Validating the laboratory risk indicator for necrotizing fasciitis (LRINEC) score: a prospective cohort study in a resource limited setting

Background: Necrotising fasciitis is a rare and fulminant soft tissue infection. Prompt surgical debridement of the involved soft tissues and necrotic fascia is its definitive treatment, with any delay associated with increased mortality. The LRINEC score is a scoring system initially designed to aid in early diagnosis of necrotising fasciitis to facilitate early surgical intervention. This score utilizes common biochemical tests to produce a score of 0-13, stratifying patients into risk categories.Methods: A prospective cohort study was designed including all patients presenting with severe soft tissue infection from June 2011 to January 2014. Exclusion criteria included: less than 15 years or above 90 years, antibiotics within 48 h of presentation or prior debridement of their soft tissue infection. All patients underwent routine blood investigations, required for calculation of the LRINEC score.Results: The positive predictive value of the LRINEC score was 95.42%, whilst the negative predictive value was 81.16%. There was a statistically significant correlation between white cell count, serum creatinine, blood glucose level and positive histopathology. The mortality rate for patients with histopathologically-confirmed necrotising fasciitis was 10%.Conclusion: The LRINEC score is a clinical adjunct to risk stratify patients presenting to the emergency department with soft tissue infections. It utilizes common blood tests commonly to calculate a score, which risk stratifies patients. The use of this scoring system can facilitate better allocation of resources and aids in the decision to transfer patients in rural or regional settings, which are often complicated by being a resource limited environment.