by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 16, 2026 | Pyoderma Gangrenosum
Let me say at the outset that I love my pharmacist, Calvin, who is a wealth of knowledge. And, often when I have phoned in a prescription for a patient, the pharmacist to whom I spoke has warned me about a potential drug interaction that I didn’t know about and been...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 1, 2025 | Pyoderma Gangrenosum
At last, something to help our patients with PG! There is a new, non-profit Patient and Family Advisory Council for PG and the kickoff meetings will take place on October 1 and October 7. This is a resource for practitioners, as well. Any provider or caregiver is...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 19, 2025 | Pyoderma Gangrenosum
I felt guilty the day I decided I could no longer prescribe opioid pain medications to patients with severely painful wounds. I didn’t prescribe narcotics very often since that’s a bad way to treat any chronic pain, but it is sometimes necessary in acute vasculitis...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 31, 2025 | Pyoderma Gangrenosum
If you are a wound care practitioner, I guarantee that you have seen pyoderma gangrenosum (PG). And no matter how attuned you are to the disease, I guarantee you have missed some — because I have. The number of “head slap” moments I have had about PG is...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 21, 2025 | Pyoderma Gangrenosum
Check out this fantastic review article about pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) by Dr. Alex Loayza and colleagues from the Oregon Health and Science University’s Department of Dermatology. Dr. Loayza has been incredibly generous with his time and expertise when wound care...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 29, 2024 | Pyoderma Gangrenosum
Caputo and Colleagues recently published a case report in JAMA Dermatology Clinicopathological Challenge, “Peristomal Erosion in a Man With Crohn Disease.” It’s available open access. The case is of a man in his 50’s with a 10-year history of Crohn’s...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 16, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Pyoderma Gangrenosum
I have a special interest in Pyoderma Gangrenosum (PG) because once I learned the clinical characteristics, I realized that PG is incredibly common in wound center patients –although sadly, it is uncommonly diagnosed. These patients suffer terribly because they get...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 10, 2023 | Pyoderma Gangrenosum
In January, I asked for your help with a survey about amputations due to pyoderma gangrenosum (PG). Thanks to all of those who responded, and my apologies that I am asking you to do it again. Let’s just say that there were technical difficulties with the survey (not...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 12, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, Pyoderma Gangrenosum
In my 30-plus years of practicing wound care, I have developed an unwelcome amount of experience with Pyoderma gangrenosum. It’s not been uncommon for me to have 8 patients with PG at any given time (and I’m sure I’ve missed some). PG can range in spectrum from a...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 30, 2022 | Fight the Good Fight, Pyoderma Gangrenosum
Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is an inflammatory skin disorder that causes excruciatingly painful skin ulcerations. It’s supposed to be rare, but it’s only rarely diagnosed. At any given time, I will have 8 or 10 patients with PG in my practice. Biopsies fail to diagnose...
