Use of honey as a treatment for severe echtyma gangrenosum

For more than 25 years, honey has been employed to facilitatethe healing of complex wounds with excellent results. here, wereport the case of a two-and-a-half-year-old agammaglobulinemiapatient admitted in our unit for severe sepsis with extensive skinnecrosis in the groin, penis and scrotum. an ecthyma gangrenosumwas corroborated by the isolation of pseudomonas aeruginosa inwound swab culture. the child was treated by broad-spectrumantibiotics. following resuscitation, the prognosis of externalgenitalia remained reserved. an extended necrosectomy wasperformed on the groin, leaving a large and deep wound. noimprovement occurred with standard local therapy; moreover, thestriking particularity of the present immunosuppressed case wasthat necrosis extended and engaged the genitalia. such conditionleft us with no alternative except to try honey dressings withoutmuch conviction, which, surprisingly, resulted in an improvementin the wound, until total healing was achieved. honey seems tobe the local treatment of choice for ecthyma gangrenosum.