Surgical implications of Pseudomonas aeruginosa necrotizing fasciitis in achild with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Necrotizing fasciitis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is extremely rare. O nly 4 cases were reported in the literature. The authors report the occurre nce of P aeruginosa necrotizing fasciitis starting out as a vulval abscess in a girl before induction chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. T o our knowledge, this is the second case described in association with leuk emia. In this case, the outcome was favorable because of early surgical int ervention, confirming the diagnosis. J Pediatr Surg 36:948-950, Copyright ( C) 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company.