title: Fournier's gangrene: series of twenty patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Fournier's gangrene (FG) is a rare, rapidly progressive, fulminant form of necrotizing fasciitis of the genital, perianal and perineal regions. Our aim is to investigate the clinical signs, symptoms and factors which affect the clinical results of patients with FG in our clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  20 patients having FG were admitted to our department during the past 6-year period. Age, gender, diabetes mellitus (DM), duration of symptoms, FG severity index score (FGSIS), colostomy, hospitalization time and number of debridements were investigated for their effects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  13 of our patients were male, 7 of them were female. The mean age was 52.2 years (range: 30-80 years). 85% of our patients had DM as a predisposing factor. The mean hospitalization time was 19.7 days (range: 6-45 days), and overall mortality was 20% (4 patients). Age and FGSIS have been found to be statistically significant factors among the parameters studied.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FG is still an important disease with high mortality rates in spite of the developments in intensive care units and new-generation antibiotics. In conclusion, we have found that the age and FGSIS of the patient are the most important effecting factors.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of General Surgery, Vakif Gureba Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. draysunsimsek@yahoo.com
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simsek Celik
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Erdem
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guzey
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Celebi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Birol
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Erozgen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaplan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003646:Debridement; D005260:Female; D018934:Fournier Gangrene / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014421:Turkey