Inflammation of the connective tissue that supports organs and structures in the body, usually caused by a bacterial infection. It may arise following wounds and after surgical operations. It is potentially dangerous, as the infection may enter the bloodstream or affect adjacent organs, and is best treated by an appropriate antibiotic.
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Cellulitis is an inflammation of the connective tissue underlying the skin, that can be caused by a bacterial infection or extreme obesity (as in the case of Carol Yager). Cellulitis can be caused by normal skin flora or by exogenous bacteria, and often occurs where the skin has previously been broken: cracks in the skin, cuts, burns, insect bites, surgical wounds, or sites of intravenous catheter insertion. The mainstay of therapy remains treatment with appropriate antibiotics.Skin on the face or lower legs is most commonly affected by this infection, though cellulitis can occur on any part of your body. Cellulitis may be superficial — affecting only the surface of your skin — but cellulitis may also affect the tissues underlying your skin and can spread to your lymph nodes and bloodstream.
Forms of cellulitis
A few of the forms of cellulitis are as follows: periorbital cellulitis (an infection of the eye socket), erysipelas, clostridial cellulitis, nonclostridial cellulitis, and synergistic necrotizing cellulitis (Pankey, 1992). A few forms of cellulitis do not have some of the symptoms most commonly listed (for example, clostridial and nonclostridial cellulitis do not cause the skin to turn red [Pankey, 1992]), but the majority do.
Symptoms
Cellulitis is characterized by redness, swelling, warmth, and pain or tenderness.
Causes
Cellulitis is caused by a type of bacteria entering by way of a break in the skin. Predisposing conditions for cellulitis include insect bite, animal bite, pruritic skin rash, recent surgery, athlete's foot, dry skin, eczema, burns &
The appearance of your skin will help your doctor make a diagnosis. Cellulitis in the lower leg is characterized by signs and symptoms that may be similar to those of a clot occurring deep in the veins, such as warmth, pain and swelling.
This reddened skin or rash may signal a deeper, more serious infection of the inner layers of skin. It represents an extreme emergency
Risk factors
The elderly and those with weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable to contracting cellulitis. they are especially prone to cellulitis in the feet because their disease causes impairment of blood circulation in their legs leading to their having foot ulcers that commonly become infected.
Diseases that affect blood circulation in the legs and feet, such as chronic venous insufficiency and varicose veins, are also risk factors for cellulitis.
Cellulitis is also extremely prevalent amongst dense populations sharing hygiene facilities and common living quarters.
Diagnosis
Cellulitis is most often a clinical diagnosis, and local cultures do not always identify the causative organism. Conditions that may resemble cellulitis include deep vein thrombosis, which can be diagnosed with a compression leg ultrasound, and stasis dermatitis, which is inflammation of the skin from poor blood flow.
Incubation
Cellulitis can develop in as little as twenty-four hours, or can take days to develop.
Duration
In many cases, cellulitis takes less than a week to disappear with antibiotic therapy.
Prevention
Good hygiene and good wound care lower the risk of cellulitis.
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