[FOURNIER GANGRENE: AN ANALYSIS OF 15 CASES]

(Objectives) This study aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics and the mortality risk factors of 15 patients with Fournier gangrene in the past decade at Teikyo University Hospital. (Materials and methods) We retrospectively assessed 15 patients with Fournier gangrene between May 2009 and April 2019. We compared the demographic characteristics along with several clinical variables including Fournier Gangrene Severity Index of the survivors and nonsurvivors. We also assessed the risk factors associated with mortality. (Results) All patients were men with a median age of 67 years. Among the 15 patients, 9 had diabetes mellitus (60%). Furthermore, 14 patients (93%) underwent surgical debridement, 5 (33%) required orchiectomy, 3 (20%) were treated with cystostomy for urinary diversion, and 3 (20%) needed temporary colostomy for fecal diversion. Three patients died of the disease with a mortality rate of 20%. The nonsurvivors were significantly older (p = 0.043) and had a smaller body mass index (p = 0.038) than the survivors. The scores of clinical risk models, such as the Fournier Gangrene Severity Index, were higher in nonsurvivors than in survivors, with no statistical significance presumably due to the small sample size. (Conclusions) The mortality rate for Fournier gangrene during the past decade at our institution was 20%. Fournier gangrene was a potentially fatal disease even in the 2010s.