All of your organs such as your liver, heart, and muscles need oxygen to function properly and survive. The oxygen is carried to different parts of your body by your blood. Eventually, the body part will start to deteriorate and die.
With dry gangrene, the skin is closed and there is no evidence of infection. Wet gangrene happens when your body tissues become infected with some type of bacteria. The tissues react to the presence of the bacteria by growing moist and breaking down.
This process causes the death of your tissues. Bacteria called Clostridia cause gas gangrene. These bacteria create an infection that causes gas bubbles and toxins to develop inside the affected area. The resulting gases cause tissue death.
You are more likely to develop gangrene if you have a history of certain medical conditions, including:. Some other physical events could increase your risk of gangrene. You may be more likely to develop this condition if you:. Smoking, drinking alcohol, and using intravenous drugs may also add to your risk of developing gangrene. Sometimes the first sign of dry gangrene is a reddish line that develops around the affected tissue.
This line may later turn black. In this case, you may not have any symptoms on your skin or limbs. However, you may have pain, an unexplained fever that lasts a long time, or low blood pressure. You may also experience confusion. Your doctor may suspect that you have gangrene based on your medical history and symptoms.
They may also use a combination of additional diagnostic methods to determine your condition. A scraping of tissue from your affected body part may be examined with a microscope to look for dead cells. Some kinds of imaging are helpful in diagnosing the spread of gangrene in your internal tissues. An anarteriogram test may be performed if doctors suspect that your gangrene is related to a circulatory problem. This test uses X-rays to monitor the flow of a special dye through your arteries, showing whether any arteries are blocked.
Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics if bacteria are present. These are typically given intravenously, or through a needle directly into the bloodstream. For people with poor circulation that results in gangrene, vascular surgery surgery on the arteries or veins may be recommended in order to improve the flow of blood through the veins to body tissues. Placing a person with gas gangrene in a special oxygen-rich environment can slow the growth of bacteria. This allows the skin to begin healing.
Who's affected Anyone can develop gangrene, particularly after a serious injury, but there are certain groups of people who are more at risk. These include people with long-term conditions that can affect the blood vessels, such as: diabetes — a lifelong condition that causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high atherosclerosis — where the arteries become clogged up with a fatty substance called plaque, narrowing them and restricting blood flow peripheral arterial disease — where a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries restricts blood supply to leg muscles Raynaud's — where blood vessels in certain parts of the body, usually the fingers or toes, react abnormally to cold temperatures Read more about the causes of gangrene.
How gangrene is treated The earlier treatment for gangrene begins, the more successful it's likely to be. In some cases, surgery may be needed to restore blood flow to the affected area. Read more about treating gangrene. Preventing gangrene Many cases of gangrene can be prevented.
Read more about preventing gangrene. The symptoms of gangrene vary depending on the underlying cause. It can affect any part of the body, but typically starts in the toes, feet, fingers or hands.
In some cases, the affected limb may feel heavy and pressing the skin may produce a crackling sound. These symptoms are caused by a build-up of gas under the skin. If the area is infected, you may also have other signs related to the underlying infection, such as:.
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