Nursing Practice

Discussion
Cellulitis

Keywords: Cellulitis/Lower limb

cellulitis/Differential diagnosis
This

article has been double-blind

peer reviewed

Nurses need to use the best available evidence to assess, diagnose and
treat cellulitis, thereby ensuring their patients receive optimal care

Diagnosing and managing

lower limb cellulitis
In this article...
 iagnosing, assessing and treating cellulitis
D
The importance of differential diagnosis
Benefits of a dedicated cellulitis service
Author Carrie Wingfield is nurse
consultant dermatology, Norfolk and
Norwich University Hospital, and associate
lecturer, University of East Anglia.
Abstract Wingfield C (2012) Diagnosing
and managing lower limb cellulitis. Nursing
Times; 108: 27, 18-21.
The diagnosis of lower limb cellulitis
requires careful and structured
assessment. This article looks at the
assessment, diagnosis and management
of cellulitis, focusing on the lower limb.
Assessment should include good skin
examination as active skin disease, such as
venous stasis eczema and athletes foot
(tinea pedis), is often overlooked as a
primary cause of lower limb cellulitis and
recurrent episodes.

ellulitis is classed as an acute

spreading bacterial infection
and inflammation of the connective tissue, dermis and subcutaneous layers of the skin. It is characterised with redness (erythema), warmth,
swelling and pain (Fig 1). Localised tenderness is a diagnostic feature and can be
accompanied by pyrexia and general
malaise (Gunderson, 2011). It is an opportunistic infection, commonly occurring
through breaks in the skin. The term erysipelas has been used to describe a more
superficial infection of the dermis and
upper subcutaneous layer of the skin;
often the two presentations coexist.
There are several predisposing conditions and risk factors for cellulitis (Box 1);
these should be looked for in the clinical
diagnosis to aid primary and secondary
treatment decisions, and make patients
aware of their potential risk of further
episodes.

Identified pathogens usually involve

Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes; other less common ones also exist.
Published data on incidence is unreliable
because of the variability and often inconsistent clinical practice in managing this
condition (Clinical Resource Efficiency
Support Team, 2005; Kilburn et al, 2003).
There is no statistically significant difference in the incidence of cellulitis in men
and women (McNamara et al, 2007).
Studies have found a higher incidence of
cellulitis in general among people over 45
years (Bjrnsdttir et al, 2005).

Diagnosing cellulitis

Presentation of lower limb cellulitis

Cellulitis commonly presents locally as a
well demarcated area of redness (erythema); associated tenderness, warmth
and swelling are simple clinical criteria for
diagnosis. If there is no increased warmth
over the skin it is unlikely to be cellulitis.
Sometimes blisters are present or superficial haemorrhage and necrosis. Lymph
glands may be enlarged and palpable.
The leg is the most common presenting
site and in most cases unilateral; bilateral
cellulitis is extremely rare (CREST 2005,
Quartey-Papafio 1999). In the absence of
common clinical features, differential
diagnoses must be considered before
starting treatment (Box 2).
Medical history
Taking a thorough comprehensive medical
history is key to diagnosing cellulitis and
determining risk factors and comorbidities. Onset of symptoms should be defined
together with the original starting point of
inflammation. History of any trauma to the
area, even minor, should be ascertained and

18 Nursing Times 03.07.12 / Vol 108 No 27 / www.nursingtimes.net

5 key
points

It is important
to recognise
diagnostic features
of clinical
presentation to
ensure accurate
diagnosis and
correct
management
of cellulitis
Assessment of
the lower limb
needs thorough
skin examination to
exclude or diagnose
active skin disease
Misdiagnosis is
common;
practitioners
should be aware
of potential
differential
diagnosis and
appropriate
investigations
Ongoing
patient advice
and education is
key as patients
may experience
further episodes;
risk factors need to
be highlighted
Cellulitis
management
should be
considered using a
multidisciplinary
approach

2
3

4
5

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Box 1. Risk factors for

cellulitis

useful step-by-step guide on diagnosing,

assessing and managing cellulitis (see
tinyurl.com/Wingfield-cellulitis).

Fig 1. Cellulitis of the foot

circumstances identified as this may help

decide on antibiotic management. Injury, if
any, may have occurred several days before
symptoms, but patients may not relate the
injury to the onset of cellulitis. Cuts and
wounds obtained via water environments
such as lakes, streams, sea and ponds
(brackish water) may be contaminated with
bacteria. Water-borne bacteria should be
considered if patients fail to respond to
conventional antibiotic treatments.
Fever, malaise, nausea, shivering and
rigors may accompany or precede skin
changes. Lymphangitis (infection of
lymph vessels) can also present in more
severe cases, appearing as a red line originating from the cellulitis and leading to
tender swollen lymph glands draining the
affected area (for example, in the groin
with leg cellulitis).
Progression of symptoms, especially if
this is rapid, can be a sign of a more acute
and deeper infection such as necrotising
fasciitis, and should be fast-tracked to
acute care. Other systemic symptoms such
as tachycardia and increased respirations
may indicate sepsis and should be carefully monitored. Cellulitis that has spread
to an adjacent structure (such as osteomyelitis) or through the blood (bacteraemia)
is a serious cause for concern and requires
immediate hospital admission. Patients
with mild or moderate cellulitis without
systemic symptoms should be managed in
primary care. Wingfield (2009) contains a

Referring to acute care

Hospital admission should be considered
if symptoms are severe and worsening,
including extensive skin involvement and
marked spread, or systemic signs are evident. Symptoms may include:
Unresolving pyrexia;
Nausea and vomiting;
Comorbidities that may complicate or
delay healing;
The very young (children under one
year) and older and frail people;
Lymphoedema;
Facial cellulitis;
Periorbital cellulitis (refer to
ophthalmologist).
Diagnostic investigations
Patients usually respond well to standard
antibiotic regimens but if there is no
response to the initial choice of antibiotic,
the organism may be resistant to the drug
or a combination of antibiotics may be
required. If any pustules, crusts or erosions are present, a swab can be taken for
culture, particularly if first-line oral antibiotics have failed.
A complete blood count is likely to show
leukocytosis (raised white cell count).
Blood cultures may be useful if a patient
has a high fever or is otherwise very unwell.
The erythrocyte sedimentation rate and
C-reactive protein level are frequently elevated, especially in patients with severe
infection. Baseline systemic observations
including temperature, pulse, blood pressure and respirations should be recorded.
Differential diagnosis
Further investigations may become necessary if differential diagnosis is suspected,
for example, deep vein thrombosis. Cox
(2002) and Quartey-Papafio (1999)
acknowledged problems with the inappropriate diagnosis of cellulitis; for example,
it can be confused with venous stasis

Box 2. Differential
diagnoses of cellulitis
On the legs, conditions that commonly
mimic cellulitis include:
Venous stasis eczema (but this is
usually bilateral with crusting, scaling
and itch)
Deep vein thrombosis (but this does
not usually cause significant erythema)
Less common conditions that may
initially present with similar signs and
symptoms to cellulitis include:
Necrotising fasciitis
Gangrene
Acute gout
Adverse drug reactions
Metastatic cancer (carcinoma
erysipeloides)
Contact dermatitis
Erythema nodosum
Panniculitis
Lipodermatosclerosis
Vasculitis
Thrombophlebitis

eczema (Quartey-Papafio, 1999) (Fig 2).

Table 1 illustrates the clinical difference
between the two conditions.
If skin disorders such as venous stasis
eczema are diagnosed and treated appropriately, there is potential to reduce the
risk of cellulitis and recurrent episodes,
which can lead to chronic oedema and
lymphoedema (Wingfield, 2009).

www.nursingtimes.net / Vol 108 No 27 / Nursing Times 03.07.12 19

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Fig 2. Varicose eczema of the leg

associated with venous insufficiency

Diabetes
Lymphoedema/chronic oedema,
primary or secondary
Insect bites
Skin trauma/ulcers
Blistering disorders bullous
pemphigoid, bullous impetigo
Animal bites
Skin rash venous stasis eczema,
athletes foot (tinea pedis)
Dry skin
Pregnancy
Obesity
Burns
Recent surgery
Immunodeficiency (cancer, kidney and
liver disease, peripheral vascular disease)
Immunosuppressive drugs
Intravenous drug misuse
Alcoholism

Nursing Practice
Discussion
If patients have pre-existing oedema,
practitioners should consider aftercare of
Doppler ultrasound investigations and
compression hosiery (Wingfield, 2008).
Leg elevation and exercise can improve
venous return and reduce venous pressure
and this may help to improve the skin.
However, there is no evidence on the benefits of these interventions (Duffill, 2008;
Barron et al, 2007).
Venous stasis eczema (varicose eczema)
This common inflammatory dermatosis
commonly affects the lower limbs and often
coexists with varicose veins. Clinical signs
include inflamed red eczematous skin, itch,
scaling, sometimes weeping crusting skin,
pigmentation (haemosiderin deposit),
hardened skin, tight red/brown skin/tissues
(lipodermatosclerosis vulnerable to ulceration) and atrophy blanching.
Treatment usually consists of topical
corticosteroids and emollient therapy. A
potent steroid for a short time can be more
steroid-sparing than a milder potency for a
longer period (Davis, 2001). Emollients and
paste bandages are appropriate therapies.
Secondary infection can present in
venous stasis eczema. Clinical signs include
increased spread of eczema, itching, erythema, weeping and yellow crusting, and
may
require
systemic
antibiotics;
switching to an antimicrobial emollient
may be useful if infection is diagnosed.
Tinea pedis (athletes foot)
Tinea pedis is a curable dermatological
primary cause of recurrent lower leg cellulitis (Fig 3) but is rarely diagnosed in clinical areas other than dermatology (Pierce
and Daugird, 1992).
Clinical presentation includes scaling,
maceration, fissuring and erythema in the
interdigital area. Treatment and diagnosis
of tinea pedis can potentially reduce subsequent recurrent cellulitis. Treatment usually involves administering topical antifungals such as terbinafine for two weeks.
If unsuccessful, practitioners should consider taking skin scrapings for mycology
and systemic therapy may be indicated.
Lymphorrhoea
Patients with lymphorrhoea (poorly controlled weeping of lymph from the skin
surface), which is commonly associated
with chronic oedema/lymphoedema are at
increased risk of cellulitis. Lymphorrhoea
quickly saturates dressings, clothes and
footwear, increasing the risk of infection/
cellulitis through contamination and maceration of skin (Mortimer, 1995).
Patients with wet or leaky legs are

Fig 3. Tinea pedis

often referred to dermatology, mainly

because of recurrent episodes of cellulitis,
discomfort, poor lymphorrhoea control
and impact on resources. It is crucial not to
dismiss this as untreatable to do so is
arguably negligent. Wet, leaking, smelly
bandages impact significantly on patients
quality of life and safety. Quality of life and
psychological aspects should be included
in any chronic oedema assessment.
Control of lymphorrhoea can realistically only be achieved with the correct lymphoedema treatment, which includes correct bandaging and skincare. The use of
absorbent dressings removes moisture
from the wound/skin; dressings that contain gel-forming agents that lock the
fluid away should also be considered
(Thomas, 2008). The fluid-handling capability of these dressings, however, will not
solve the problem; practitioners should not
continuously add to the dressing to absorb
leakage, especially if there is a wound/ulcer.
It is vital that absorbent dressings are considered as primary wound choice in cases
of lymphorrhoea and associated wounds
but their frequency of change should be
closely monitored. Good attention to skincare should also be considered a benchmark in these patients (Beldon, 2009).
Compression therapy in managing
lymphorrhoea is paramount if patient circulation and cardiac history allows,
together with elevation and exercise.
Applying compression to the lower limb
aids drainage of excess fluid back in to the
capillaries by reducing the capillary pressure (Anderson, 2006).
There is little evidence in the literature
on the use of compression during an acute
episode of cellulitis; individual presentations and patients medical history need to
form part of the decision. Swelling caused
by infection increases pressure in the tissues and leads to higher pressures than
normal under compression. This could
impair circulation, leading to tissue
necrosis and/or distal ischaemia, especially where tissue oxygenation has been
borderline under compression.
These potential risks should lead to

20 Nursing Times 03.07.12 / Vol 108 No 27 / www.nursingtimes.net

advice to discontinue or reduce the level of

compression during cellulitis episodes.
From personal clinical experience the
majority of patients find cellulitis too
painful to tolerate compression until
symptoms subside and, in most cases,
would discontinue as recommended by
CREST (2005). If a decision is made to continue compression during cellulitis,
patients need close monitoring until the
swelling and cellulitis is under control.

A cellulitis service

The CREST (2005) guidelines proposed

increasing awareness in both primary
and acute care of the need to improve cellulitis diagnosis and management. They
advocated a dedicated cellulitis service to
reduce delays in diagnosis, cut the costs
and administration of inappropriate treatment and increase the day-to-day management of cellulitis and education about the
condition. The multidisciplinary approach
ideally should include:
Nurse (community or hospital);
GP;
Pharmacist;
Microbiologist;
Specialist services dermatology;
Physiotherapist;
Lymphoedema services.
These recommendations have been put
into practice in some hospital trusts. The
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
shows an excellent example of this initiative and offers a same-day referral cellulitis clinic in the dermatology outpatient
department (Wingfield, 2008). GPs can
refer patients with lower limb cellulitis to
this clinic, where they receive a thorough
assessment including diagnosis, treatment and investigation of any differential
diagnosis or coexisting skin disease.
Patients are seen by a specialist team
and booked into a 90-minute assessment
slot. Suitable patients are treated with
ceftriaxone intravenous (IV) therapy, a
once-a-day antibiotic IV treatment adminstered over a three-day period. After
receiving their first administration in
clinic they are discharged with an IV cannula in situ and receive their next two
doses at home from the community IV
team. On day four they return to the clinic
for review where they are stepped down to
oral antibiotics. This has produced a significant saving on bed days, offset against
the cost of outpatient treatment. In recognition of this service innovation, the clinic
received the Health Enterprise East Innovation Award in 2008.
The benefits of the service are:
A faster pathway;

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Table 1. Comparing clinical features of venous stasis eczema and cellulitis of the leg

Signs

Venous stasis eczema

Cellulitis

Apyrexial

May have pyrexia

Itching

Painful

History of varicose veins or

deep vein thrombosis

No relevant history

Erythematous, inflamed

Erythematous, inflamed

No tenderness

Tenderness

Vesicles

One or a few bullae

Crusting

No crusting

Other lesions on body

No other lesions

Portal of entry

Not applicable

Usually unknown but may be

ulceration or associated skin
disease eczema/tinea pedis

Investigations

White blood count normal

White blood count high

Blood culture negative

Blood culture usually negative

Skin swabs Staphylococcus

aureus common

Usually negative except for

necrotic tissue

Source: Quartey-Papafio (1999)

Less pressure on resources;

Reduced waiting lists helping to
achieve the four-hour wait target in
accident and emergency;
Early discharge/preventing admission;
Patients are not exposed to hospitalacquired infections;
Care in the community, with patients
remaining closer to home;
Prevention of recurrent episodes of
cellulitis.
Studies have supported this change of
clinical pathway and management of lower
limb cellulitis. Seaton et al (2005) recognised high standards in nurse-led home IV
services using ceftriaxone. They concluded
that care is not compromised and the need
for medical review is reduced. Corwin et al
(2005) said home IV treatment is as effective as hospital inpatient treatment and is
more acceptable to patients.

Patient education

Depending on the location of the affected

area, patients may need to decrease physical activity and elevate the extremity, if
possible. They may take over-the-counter
pain medication such as ibuprofen or
paracetamol if there are no contraindications. Where patients are started on oral
antibiotics, review should take place after
5-7 days with the proviso that they contact
the surgery or outpatient department if
they have any of the following features:
Raised temperature, especially when
associated with rigors;
Cellulitis with soft, fluctuant areas
suggestive of abscess formation;

A red streak from an area of cellulitis or

a progressively fast-spreading area of
redness;
Significant pain not relieved by
recommended analgesia;
Inability to move an extremity or joint
because of pain;
Nausea and vomiting.
Patients with diabetes, cancer or immunosuppression should be made aware that
localised cellulitis may become serious.

Conclusion

Health professionals need to consider cellulitis as a multidisciplinary issue that

requires more than just treating the infection. Assessment has to be all-inclusive to
manage patient care effectively and, in
many, the aim is to avoid recurrent episodes. Good background knowledge of
common presenting skin disease is essential and practitioners should have adequate knowledge to diagnose, treat or
refer. Awareness of risk factors is also
important not only in the initial assessment but also to educate patients about
ongoing management and prevention. NT
l The continuing professional
development e-learning site below has
more information on topical
corticosteroids and is an excellent learning
resource (www.topicalsteroids.co.uk).
References
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management of leg ulcers. Wound Essentials; 1: 20-37.
Barron GS et al (2007) Dermatologic complications
of venous disease: medical management and

www.nursingtimes.net / Vol 108 No 27 / Nursing Times 03.07.12 21

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Symptoms

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