Abstract
There are several reports on non-traumatic Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) infection rapidly progressing to intravascular hemolysis and metabolic acidosis and eventually death, within a few hours after admission. In such cases, α toxin of C. perfringens is responsible for causing intravascular hemolysis followed by severe anemia, acute renal failure, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, and multiple organ failure. Surgical debridement is the treatment of choice. High dose of penicillin, hyperbaric oxygen treatment, continuous hemodiafiltration, polymyxin B-immobilized fiber direct hemoperfusion, and plasma exchange are also considered as promising treatment options. However, the optimal therapeutic strategy has not been established thus far. Antitoxin against the α toxin of C. perfringens has been used as a treatment for C. perfringens infection for a long time. However, medical doctors of the current generation are not familiar with this therapeutic option, because it has not been introduced as a treatment of choice in medical papers or congresses. Therefore, in this paper, we introduce the use of antitoxin against the alpha toxin of C. perfringens as the optimal therapy.
