This systematic review and meta-analysis of 23 studies (5,982 patients) pools diagnostic accuracy data for physical examination findings, plain radiography, CT, and the LRINEC score in adults with suspected necrotizing soft tissue infection, using operative or histopathologic confirmation as the reference standard.
When you see a soft tissue infection and your clinical gut says something is wrong, don't let a normal exam, negative plain film, or low LRINEC score talk you out of it — all three have sensitivity too poor to rule out NSTI. Get CT if you can do so without delaying the OR, and call surgery early; the tests we rely on will miss roughly one in three cases at the LRINEC ≥6 threshold and more than half at ≥8.
This systematic review and meta-analysis of 23 studies (5,982 patients) pools diagnostic accuracy data for physical examination findings, plain radiography, CT, and the LRINEC score in adults with suspected necrotizing soft tissue infection, using operative or histopathologic confirmation as the reference standard.
When you see a soft tissue infection and your clinical gut says something is wrong, don't let a normal exam, negative plain film, or low LRINEC score talk you out of it — all three have sensitivity too poor to rule out NSTI. Get CT if you can do so without delaying the OR, and call surgery early; the tests we rely on will miss roughly one in three cases at the LRINEC ≥6 threshold and more than half at ≥8.