Ludwig's angina has been known for two centuries as a rapidly and frequently fatal progressive gangrenous cellulitis or necrotizing fasciitis of the neck and the floor of the mouth. The management of the usually young patients affected requires a trained team combining medical skills in surgery, antibiotic therapy, and resuscitation. The prognosis is directly related to early surgical debridement and the experience of the team managing these patients. We present four cases of severe necrotizing cervical cellulitis notably associated with concomitant self-medication with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Through these cases, we conclude that several surgical steps could be required, combined with broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy. An optimal surgery, draining all collections and excising all necrotic tissues, seems to be a condition needed for antibiotic efficacy and finally healing.
Background: K. pneumoniae is one of the bacteria most frequently causing health care-associated urinary tract infections, and increasingly incriminating Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase producers (KPCp). Most infections caused by KPCp are nosocomial and might cause serious issues, even leading to death in half of the reported cases. Our aim was to identify the best strategy, based on available scientific data, for the use of new antibiotic treatments to manage KPCp UTIs. Methods: this narrative review of the literature was performed according to the criteria of preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analyses statement (PRISMA) (2020). Results and Conclusions: KPCp-UTIs are a real challenge for physicians. While cefiderocol, meropenem-vaborbactam, ceftazidim-avibactam, and imipenem-relebactam represent a major step forward in the treatment of these UTIs, no guidelines are currently available, in view of choosing the most appropriate treatment, in each specific case.
Current guidelines recommend screening and treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria prior to all urological surgeries breaching the mucosa. But few evidence is supporting this recommendation. At least, risk stratification for postoperative urinary tract infection to support this strategy is lacking. The aim of this study was to define the associated factors for postoperative febrile infectious complications (urinary tract infection or surgical site infection) in urological surgery. We conducted a retrospective, multicentric study including all consecutive patients undergoing any urological surgery with preoperative urine culture. The primary outcome was the occurrence of a urinary tract infection or surgical site infection occurring within 30 days after surgery. rom 2016 to 2023, in 10 centers, 2389 patients were included with 838 (35%) positive urine cultures (mono/bi/polymicrobial). Postoperative infections occurred in 106 cases (4.4%), of which 44 had negative urine cultures (41%), 42 had a positive mono/bi-microbial urine cultures (40%) and 20 had a polymicrobial urine cultures (19%). In multivariable analysis, urinary tract infections during the previous 12 months of surgery (OR 3.43; CI 95 2.07-5.66; P < .001), monomicrobial/bimicrobial preoperative urine culture (OR 3.68; CI 95 1.57-8.42; P 0.02), polymicrobial preoperative urine culture (OR 2.85; CI 95 1.52-5.14; P < .001), operative time (OR 1.09; CI 95 1.04-1.15; P < .001) were independent associated factors for postoperative febrile infections. Positive urine culture, including preoperative polymicrobial urine culture, prior to urological surgery was associated with postoperative infection. Additionally, patients experiencing infectious complications also had a higher incidence of other complications. The effectiveness of systematic preventive antibiotic therapy for a positive urine culture has not been conclusively established.