[Amputation of the hand due to necrotising fasciitis: a case report].

We report the case of an 81-year-old woman who fell at home on her left hand and suffered a laceration of her forehead. Within days a fulminant necrotizing fasciitis of the hand from group A β-haemolytic streptococcus developed. Lacking an apparent local germ entry point at the hand, the infection was initially misinterpreted as compartment syndrome. The patient's life was saved by amputation of the hand. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.