Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Gwangju Veterans Hospital, Gwangju, KoreaNecrotizing fasciitis is one of the few true emergencies in orthopedic surgery that has a very high mortality rate unless recognized promptly and treated aggressively. The authors report a case of a patient with necrotizing fasciitis on the thigh that developed secondary to an unrecognized rectal cancer perforation through the short external rotator muscles. Clinicians should always be alert to the potential that rectal cancer perforations can cause necrotizing fasciitis in rare cases.
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