Gangrene

Gangrene means the death of tissues due to lack of blood supply. Gas gangrene is caused when oxygen-starved tissues become infected with a bacterium called Colostridum perfringens, which produces gas under the skin as a byproduct of its metabolism. In the First World War, gas gangrene was so rife that a war injury such as an open fracture of the thigh had an 80 percent death rate.