Cmaj Podcasts

Send us a textOn this episode of the CMAJ Podcast, Dr. Mojola Omole and Dr. Blair Bigham discuss necrotizing fasciitis, a diagnosis that can strike fear into the hearts of clinicians due to its rapid progression and devastating consequences. The discussion builds on insights from the CMAJ practice article, “Necrotizing soft tissue infections caused by invasive group A Streptococcus,” co-authored by Dr. Saswata Deb and Dr. Stephanie Mason.Dr. Deb, an emergency physician and clinician scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, outlines the key clinical signs of necrotizing fasciitis, including pain out of proportion to physical findings and rapid hemodynamic deterioration. He emphasizes the importance of considering NSTI in the differential diagnosis for cellulitis and the need for prompt surgical consultation when red flags arise. Crucially, Dr. Deb explains that no imaging or laboratory tests can definitively rule in or rule out the diagnosis—only surgical exploration can confirm it.Dr. Mason,