[kellyhound]

Gangrene is a condition that occurs when body tissue dies. It is caused by a loss of blood supply due to an underlying illness, injury, and/or infection.

Fingers, toes, and limbs are most often affected, but gangrene can also occur inside the body, damaging organs and muscles.

There are different types of gangrene and all require immediate medical attention.

Gangrene Causes
Blood plays a very important role in your health. Not only does it transport oxygen and nutrients throughout your body to feed cells, it delivers disease-fighting antibodies that protect your body from infection.

When blood cannot travel freely throughout the body, your cells cannot survive, infection can develop, and tissue can die from gangrene. Any condition that affects blood flow increases your risk of gangrene, including:

Diabetes
Atherosclerosis
Peripheral arterial disease
Smoking
Trauma or serious injury
Obesity
Raynaud's phenomenon (a condition in which the blood vessels that supply the skin become intermittently narrowed)

Gangrene Types
There are two main types of gangrene:

Dry gangrene: More common in people with diabetes and autoimmune diseases, dry gangrene usually affects the hands and feet.

It develops when blood flow to the affected area is impaired, usually as a result of poor circulation. In this type, the tissue dries up and may be brown to purplish-blue to black in color and often falls off.

Unlike other types of gangrene, infection is typically not present in dry gangrene. However, dry gangrene can lead to wet gangrene if it becomes infected.

Wet gangrene: Unlike dry gangrene, wet gangrene almost always involves an infection. Injury from burns or trauma where a body part is crushed or squeezed can rapidly cut off blood supply to the affected area, causing tissue death and increased risk of infection.

The tissue swells and blisters and is called "wet" because of pus. Infection from wet gangrene can spread quickly throughout the body, making wet gangrene a very serious and potentially life-threatening condition if not treated quickly.

Types of wet gangrene include:

Internal gangrene: If gangrene occurs inside the body due to blocked blood flow to an internal organ, then it is referred to as internal gangrene.

This is usually related to an infected organ such as the appendix or colon.

[corpsehands]

eat it!

[NaughtyGirls]

That's fucking mental

[MonkeyJones1980]

I used to have to change the bandages on a lady's necrotic toes everyday (I'm a nurse) and one was barely hanging on. She asked me to pull it off but the doctor wanted it to come off on its own. Two days later it fell off in my hand during a dressing change. For a long time I'd come home and my husband would ask how my day was and I would reply, "Well, no one's toes fell off, so I guess it was a good day."

[FilRude]

Thank you for the education. All this time I thought gangrene was a group of thugs that cared about the environment.

[Trocar7]

Excellent info, thanks very much

[vagabond]

Pretty cool, and very gross!

[corrico]

This little piggy goes to market.......

[Sharon]

Extremely vile and extremely brilliant post

[mintycbo]

Since it wasn't mentioned :

Gas gangrene is most often caused by a bacterium called Clostridium perfringens. It also can be caused by group A streptococcus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Vibrio vulnificus.

Clostridium is found nearly everywhere. As the bacteria grow inside the body, it makes gas and harmful substances (toxins) that can damage body tissues, cells, and blood vessels.

Gas gangrene develops suddenly. It usually occurs at the site of trauma or a recent surgical wound. In some cases, it occurs without an irritating event. Persons most at risk of gas gangrene usually have blood vessel disease (atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries), diabetes, or colon cancer.

Gas gangrene causes very painful swelling. The skin turns pale to brownish-red. When the swollen area is pressed, gas can be felt as a crackly sensation (crepitus). The edges of the infected area grow so quickly that changes can be seen over a few minutes. The area may be completely destroyed.

Symptoms include:

Air under the skin (subcutaneous emphysema)
Blisters filled with brown-red fluid
Drainage from the tissues, foul-smelling brown-red or bloody fluid (serosanguineous discharge)
Increased heart rate (tachycardia)
Moderate to high fever
Moderate to severe pain around a skin injury
Pale skin color, later becoming dusky and changing to dark red or purple
Swelling that worsens around a skin injury
Sweating
Vesicle formation, combining into large blisters
Yellow color to the skin (jaundice)
If the condition is not treated, the person can go into shock with decreased blood pressure (hypotension), kidney failure, coma, and finally death.

From -
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/...cle/000620.htm

Sidenote.. If I ever had a appendage as such like this person? I'd pop it off as well...