This site is intended for healthcare professionals

CPD
CPD
Pro
Pro
Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Go to /pro/cpd-dashboard page

This page is worth 0.05 CPD credits. CPD dashboard

Go to /account/subscription-details page

This page is worth 0.05 CPD credits. Upgrade to Pro

Investigations

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Investigations to support the clinical diagnosis of necrotising fasciitis include:

  • blood tests:
    • leucocytosis
    • raised urea and creatinine
    • hypoalbuminaemia
    • acidosis
    • altered coagulation profile
  • microbiology
    • send blood for culture and debrided tissues for culture and gram stain (1)
  • imaging
    • plain radiography
    • soft tissue gas eg due to clostridial myonecrosis
    • foreign bodies
    • CT or MRI
  • bedside investigations
    • “finger sweep test”
    • under local anaesthetic, a small incision is made down to the deep fascia. Gentle probing with the index finger is performed at the level of the deep fascia. A positive test is indicated when there is
      • lack of resistance to finger dissection
      • lack of bleeding
      • release of ‘dishwater fluid’ - an offensive, brown-coloured fluid
    • incisional biopsy and an immediate frozen section, culture and gram stain (2)

Reference:

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.