[The treatment problems of soft-tissue infections]

The treatment results is a series of twenty-six patients running a very serious course of soft-tissue infections are analyzed. Of the total number ten have diabetes mellitus. The sepsis severity score is 23 average according to the APACHE II rating system. Operative management is undertaken without any delay. It is preceded by comprehensive correction of the metabolic disorders present and antibiotic treatment, initially substantiated by presumable microbial causing agents. A total of 62 operations are done. In 36 per cent of cases being examined, the microbiological study contributes to a proper orientation of the antibiotic therapy performed. Bacteremia is documented in three instances. Total mortality rate amounts to 32 per cent (8 patients). Infections running a serious clinical course may be caused by one or more microorganisms, but in either case the lethality is noteworthy. Active surgical management may prove effective provided it is initiated in the most opportune time. It is only part of the complex therapeutic approach to sepsis.