Early surgical intervention and its impact on patients presenting with necrotizing soft tissue infections: A single academic center experience

Objectives: Early diagnosis and emergent surgical debridement of necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTIs) remains the cornerstone of care. We aimed to study the effect of early surgery on patients' outcomes and, in particular, on hospital length of stay (LOS) and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) LOS. Materials and Methods: Over a 6-year period (January 2003 through December 2008), we analyzed the records of patients with NSTIs. We divided patients into two groups based on the time of surgery (i.e., the interval from being diagnosed and surgical intervention): Early (