Diagnosing necrotizing fasciitis: is there a difference between type I and type II with respect to computer...

Necrotising fasciitis (NF) requires rapid diagnosis to prevent morbidity and mortality. Yet clinicians rely heavily on imaging to help guide diagnosis, but type II NF is caused by non-gas producing organisms. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess computer topography (CT) imaging findings of type I compared to type II NF.

This was a retrospective study conducted by reviewing medical records with NF from 1/1/2020 to 12/31/2024 at a single medical centre. The presence of air on CT images was evaluated by reviewing radiology reports and manual review of imaging. Comparisons were made on imaging findings for type I compared to type II NF as well as based on location.

A total of 367 patients had type I NF and 90 patients had type II NF. When comparing the proportion of NF with gas seen on imaging (total 75.5%), the type I cohort had a statistically significant higher rate of gas present in the soft tissues (91.8% compared to 7.8% p˂0.0001). When this was separated by location there was a statistically significant difference in the rates of imaging with gas in all locations except the foot.

This study demonstrates that reliance on CT imaging to evaluate gas in soft tissues is not advantageous for diagnosing type II NF. Thus, this study reinforces that NF is a clinical diagnosis and CT findings without gas in the soft tissues do not exclude NF.