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Necrotizing Fasciitis of the Paraspinous Muscles

Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a rare and lethal soft tissue infection that requires urgent surgical intervention. It is most often found in the extremities occurring with precipitating trauma or in immunocompromised states. Signs and symptoms are often vague or missing making early diagnosis very difficult. Our patient presented with flank pain and altered mental status but no known precipitating factors. Computed Tomography showed gas within and around the right paraspinous muscle suspicious for NF. Given NF’s high lethality, early suspicion by emergency physicians of NF in patients with soft tissue infections or with systemic findings of unknown etiology is necessary.

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WestJEM/ Department of Emergency Medicine
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WestJEM
ISSN: 1936-900X
e-ISSN: 1936-9018

CPC-EM
ISSN: 2474-252X

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Emergency Medicine is a specialty which closely reflects societal challenges and consequences of public policy decisions. The emergency department specifically deals with social injustice, health and economic disparities, violence, substance abuse, and disaster preparedness and response. This journal focuses on how emergency care affects the health of the community and population, and conversely, how these societal challenges affect the composition of the patient population who seek care in the emergency department. The development of better systems to provide emergency care, including technology solutions, is critical to enhancing population health.