Fournier's syndrome in infants. A review of cases from Ibadan, Nigeria.

Six children aged between 3 and 12 weeks were treated for Fournier's syndrome in our hospital between 1972 and 1979. Circumcision, diaper rash, and perianal skin abscesses were suspected as portals of entry for pathogens initiating the lesions. In two cases Staphylococcus aureus was isolated. Medical treatment of the gangrenous area proved successful in all cases, and the children survived with no appreciable scrotal skin loss or adhesions. Our results confute the approach of previous workers, most of whom have advocated aggressive surgical management in a devastating illness like Fournier's gangrene.