The American journal of emergency medicine
-
A case of gas gangrene that caused intractable shoulder pain refractory to narcotics in an immunocompromised host is presented. Gas gangrene has been associated with severe trauma involving penetrating wounds, compound fractures, extensive soft-tissue injury, intramuscular injection of epinephrine, and interruption of arterial blood supply. ⋯ The responsible organism was Clostridium septicum. Emergency medicine physicians must consider gas gangrene Clostridium infection in immunocompromised individuals without evidence of trauma who present with localized and intractable pain.