Collaboration between experts at Central Carolina Hospital in Sanford and Duke University Hospital in Durham saved the life of a woman who contracted necrotizing fasciitis — better known as flesh-eating disease — in June, WRAL News reported July 6.
Tammy Russ cut her thumb while removing an ingrown nail in early June. Days later, she collapsed with a swollen and discolored hand, her husband told the news outlet. She was taken to Central Carolina Hospital, where physicians raced to determine the best course of action to treat the deadly infection, as it spreads quickly.
"We don't see [necrotizing fasciitis] very often, especially in this small community like this," Richard Slusher, DO, orthopedic surgeon at Central Carolina Hospital, told WRAL.
Hospital staff collaborated with other experts and determined it was best to get Ms. Russ on the operating table as soon as possible, rather than waiting to transfer her to Duke or UNC Medical Center.
"It would be too late," to transfer, Dr. Slusher said. "Things would get into the blood system. They get bacteremic septicemic, go into sepsis and they can go into septic shock and die."
Ms. Russ' husband said Dr. Slusher's quick action and collaboration with other hospitals saved his wife's life. Surgeons at Duke later amputated Ms. Russ' thumb and performed skin grafts.