Management of Fournier's gangrene with Vacuum Assisted Closure® dressing.

Annals Academy of Medicine Dear Editor, Fournier’s gangrene is a surgical emergency. Treatment consists of fl uid resuscitation, intravenous broad spectrum antibiotics and immediate surgical consultation with a view for early wound debridement and drainage. A common problem of Fournier’s gangrene is the large defect that remains post-drainage. Many of these defects are treated with daily wound dressing and allowed to heal by secondary intention. This may result in prolonged hospitalisation for some patients and ultimately take many weeks to eventually close. Closure with a skin fl ap has also been performed for some patients, however this would require the patient to undergo multiple surgeries and also carries the risk of fl ap failure. We report a case of a patient with Fournier’s gangrene that was drained surgically with a residual large skin defect which was successfully managed with Vacuum Assisted Closure or VAC® (KCI, San Antonio, Texas) dressing.