Emergency Medical Minute2 Juli 2024

Episode 910: Cellulitis Recovery Timeline

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD

Educational Pearls:

How fast does cellulitis recover?

A recent prospective cohort study took a look at this question.

The study included 300 adults with cellulitis (excluding those with peri-orbital cellulitis or abscesses) in two emergency departments in Queensland, Australia.
They collected data from initial and follow-up surveys at 3, 7, and 14 days, and compared clinician and patient assessments at day 14.
Improvement was fastest between day 0 and day 3, with gradual progress thereafter.
At day 14, many still had skin redness and swelling, though warmth had often resolved. Clinicians reported higher cure rates than patients (85.8% vs. 52.8%).
Conclusion:

Cellulitis symptoms improve quickly at first but continue to linger for many patients.
Patients and doctors often have different views on when cellulitis is fully cured.

How should we counsel patients?

Even on antibiotics, the margins of the cellulitis may continue to spread a small amount.
Skin warmth should be the first symptom to go away.
It takes time to get better. Only about 50% of patients believed their cellulitis was cured at 2 weeks.

References

Nightingale, R. S., Etheridge, N., Sweeny, A. L., Smyth, G., Dace, W., Pellatt, R. A. F., Snelling, P. J., Yadav, K., & Keijzers, G. (2024). Cellulitis in the Emergency Department: A prospective cohort study with patient-centred follow-up. Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA, 10.1111/1742-6723.14401. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/1742-6723.14401

Summarized by Jeffrey Olson MS2 | Edited by Meg Joyce & Jorge Chalit, OMSIII

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(1174)

Podcast 1019: Trauma Blunt Cardiovascular Injuries (BCVI)

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) BCVI is a traumatic injury to the carotid or vertebral arteries Patients may initially have no neurologic sy...

31 Aug 3min

Podcast 1018: Occult Ventricular Fibrillation on Echocardiography

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Big question in cardiac arrest: is the rhythm shockable? Shockable: ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia Non-sho...

24 Aug 2min

Podcast 1017: CPR Hand Placement

Contributor: Taylor Lynch, MD Educational Pearls: CPR is an important life-saving measure designed for anyone to perform. Chest compressions works by two mechanisms: Cardiac pump: Direct squ...

17 Aug 2min

Podcast 1016: Hypokalemia

Contributor: Meghan Hurley, MD Educational Pearls: What is hypokalemia? Hypokalemia is when the measured blood level of potassium falls below 3.5 mEq/L (normal 3.5 - 5.2 mEq/L). Can generally be ...

10 Aug 6min

Podcast 1015: Calcium in Hyperkalemia

Contributor: Meghan Hurley, MD Educational Pearls: What is hyperkalemia? Hyperkalemia is when the measured blood level of potassium reaches above 5.2 - 5.5 mEq/L (normal 3.5 - 5.2 mEq/L). What ar...

3 Aug 7min

Podcast 1014: Eating and Drinking on Shift

Contributor; Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: A 2026 survey asked Canadian emergency medicine (EM) physicians about their eating and drinking habits while on shift. Among 527 respondents, 35%...

27 Juli 2min

Podcast 1013: Thoracotomy Indications

Contributor; Taylor Lynch, MD Educational Pearls: Thoracotomy Thoracotomy is used in traumatic cardiac arrest to replace conventional CPR with direct access to the chest. Goals include identif...

20 Juli 3min

Podcast 1012: Meth Sedation

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Agitated patients who are intoxicated with methamphetamine pose a unique challenge when selecting a sedative to counter their symptoms. Is there ...

13 Juli 1min