Perforated appendicitis during near-term pregnancy causing necrotizing fasciitis of the lower extremity: a rare complication of a common disease

Abstract

A 33-year-old woman presented with pain in the right side of the abdomen at 35 weeks of gestation. She was treated for cystitis. A few days later, her abdominal pain had disappeared; however, she had developed pain in the right thigh and fever. She delivered a healthy child, but postpartum her leg symptoms deteriorated. She was found to have a necrotizing fasciitis, which necessitated disarticulation of the hip. The source of the infection was a perforated appendix.

• appendicitis
• disarticulation
• necrotizing fasciitis
• pregnancy