How is gangrene treated?
 

Treatment will depend on your symptoms, age, and general health.
It will also depend on how severe the condition is.
 

Treatment of gangrene will often consist of one or more of these steps:

• Antibiotics. 
  These medicines can be used to kill bacteria in the affected area. They are used only to treat wet gangrene.

• Surgery to remove the dead tissue. 
  When dead tissue is limited to a specific part of the body, removing the dead tissue and leaving healthy surrounding tissue is called debridement. It can help keep the gangrene from spreading to healthy tissues nearby. In cases where the gangrene is advanced, widespread, and not able to be cured otherwise, a finger, toe, foot, or more may need to be amputated.

• Maggot debridement. 
  This is a nonsurgical alternative to traditional debridement. During this procedure, clean fly larvae are placed on the affected area. They eat away dead tissue and remove bacteria. This is a painless procedure.

• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy. 
  During this procedure, you are placed in a special pressurized chamber that gives oxygen at high pressures, forcing more oxygen into the affected area. This may speed up healing and help kill bacteria. This treatment works very well in people who develop gangrene from diabetic foot ulcers.

• Vascular surgery. 
  If your gangrene is caused by poor blood flow, your healthcare provider may recommend surgery to improve your circulation. People whose gangrene is a result of a blocked artery, for example, may have bypass surgery or an angioplasty to fix the problem.