What is Gangrene?
Gangrene occurs when the tissues in your body die after a loss of blood caused by any type of illness, injury, or infection. In other words, it often occurs when the tissues are not getting sufficient blood from your circulatory system and it causes tissues to die in some part of our body, often the hands or feet. It generally affects the areas farthest from your heart such as toes or fingers but it can also affect other parts of the body including internal organs. There are different types of gangrene and all of them require a Gangrene Dressing Specialist for effective and safe healing.
The patients are at higher risk of developing gangrene who have an underlying condition such as diabetes or hardened arteries that can damage your blood vessels. It generally develops in specific body parts such as a leg, hand, or internal organ but it can spread through your body and can cause you to get in shock if not treated well.
Symptoms of Gangrene
There are two main types of gangrene which are known as Dry and Wet gangrene.
Dry Gangrene: Also known as mummification, dry gangrene usually starts with a red line around the affected area. The area turns dry and black.
Symptoms of Dry Gangrene Include:
- Wrinkled skin that changes from blue to black and eventually comes off.
- An isolated area of your body feels ie. Cold skin
- Wound filled with pus or releasing a bad odor.
- Numb skin
- Pain
- Sores can occur repeatedly in the same place of the body
Wet Gangrene - It is also a possibility to experience wet gangrene that affects your inner tissues or organs. In this case, you may not notice any symptoms on your skin or limbs, however, you feel pain, or fever for a long time, or low blood pressure.
Symptoms of Wet Gangrene Include:
- Swelling
- Pain and fever or you may feel unwell
- The unusual color of the skin such as red, brown, purple, blue, greenish-black, or black skin.
- Thin and shiny skin and you may lose hair around the skin.
Causes of Gangrene
Gangrene occurs when there is a blockage in the blood supply to certain tissues. All types of gangrene happen due to a loss of blood supply to a certain area as it deprives tissues of getting enough oxygen and nutrients and causing them to die.
- Any infection
- Any injury such as burn or combat wound
- A chronic, non-healing disease.
Causes of Dry Gangrene include vascular diseases, severe burns, cold, and scalds. Other causes are Raynaud’s disease and diabetes etc while the causes of Wet gangrene include injury, dry gangrene (infected with bacteria), embolism and immune deficiency, etc.
Treatment of Gangrene
The treatment for gangrene depends on the type of gangrene and Gangrene Wounds Care may suggest you take antibiotics to treat any type of underlying infection. Gangrene is a serious condition and requires immediate Gangrene Wound Dressing.
- Surgery -
- The main treatments for gangrene include surgery to remove dead tissues. It is known as debridement used to prevent the infection.
- Maggot Therapy -
Maggots play a serious role in treating gangrene. Your healthcare professional may put maggots from fly larvae on your wound to make it eat dead and infected tissues without affecting healthy tissues.
- Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy - Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can also be used to treat gangrene or ulcers resulting from diabetes or peripheral artery disease. The doctor will put you in a special oxygen-rich environment to slow the growth of bacteria.
In some severe cases, you may experience an amputation of a limb, finger, or toe due to gangrene and may be fitted with a prosthesis, or artificial limb. To keep more tissues from dying, it must be treated immediately especially for the person with diabetes or blood vessel disease.
