Necrotizing fasciitis: a plastic surgeon's perspective

Necrotizing fasciitis is a serious life- and limb-threatening emergency that warrants early diagnosis and treatment with surgical debridement. The plastic surgeon would be involved once the debridement in complete to reconstruct the resultant defects or sometimes even in the acute stage to help with appropriate debridement. In this article we revisit the pathophysiology, microbiology, clinical features and reconstruction for defects resulting from necrotizing fasciitis and describe the management from a plastic surgeon's perspective.