Spontaneous, Fulminant Gas Gangrene Caused by Klebsiella Pneumoniae: An Unrecognized Small Air Bubbles in the Left Femoral, External and Common Iliac Vein, and Inferior Vena Cava: A case report.

Yeom,  Jong Hoon; Son,  Sung Il; Min,  Hyoung Ki; Shim,  Jae Hang; Cho,  Sang Yoon; Shin,  Woo Jong; Kim,  Kyoung Hun; Jeon,  Woo Jae

doi:2008.54.1.113

Case Report

Korean Journal of Anesthesiology 2008;54(1):113-116.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2008.54.1.113

Spontaneous, Fulminant Gas Gangrene Caused by Klebsiella Pneumoniae: An Unrecognized Small Air Bubbles in the Left Femoral, External and Common Iliac Vein, and Inferior Vena Cava: A case report.

Jong Hoon Yeom, Sung Il Son, Hyoung Ki Min, Jae Hang Shim, Sang Yoon Cho, Woo Jong Shin, Kyoung Hun Kim, Woo Jae Jeon

Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, School of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. goldnan@hanyang.ac.kr

Abstract

Fulminant gas gangrene is a rare condition, usually associated with contaminated traumatic injuries. It carries a high rate of mortality and morbidity. Also, a number of studies have implicated non-traumatic gas gangrene, associated mostly with underlying diseases that cause immunodeficiency. We report a non-traumatic fatal case of Klebsiella pneumoniae gas gangrene with small air bubbles in the left external and common iliac vein, and inferior vena cava in a previously healthy male. We would like to recommend you do not use nitrous oxide in case of gas gangrene, because it can aggravate pulmonary air embolism.

Key Words: air bubbles; fulminant gas gangrene; klebsiella pneumoniae