This review looks at interventions for the skin infections 'cellulitis' and 'erysipelas'. These two terms are now considered different presentations of the same condition by most experts, so they are considered together for this review. For simplicity we used the one term 'cellulitis' to refer to both conditions.
Cellulitis is a common painful skin infection, usually bacterial, that may require hospitalisation in severe cases. There is variation in the types of treatments prescribed, so this review aims to collate evidence on the best treatments available.
The infection most commonly affects the skin of the lower leg but can infect the skin in any part of the body, usually following an injury to the skin. The symptoms include severe pain, swelling, and inflammation, often accompanied by fever, rigours, nausea, and feeling generally unwell. The infection is usually treated with antibiotics, however corticosteroids and physical treatments have been used to reduce pain, redness, and swelling, and improve the circulation to the skin.
We identified 25 randomised controlled trials. No two trials investigated the same antibiotics, and there was no standard treatment regime used as a comparison. We are not able to define the best treatment for cellulitis and our limited conclusions are mostly based on single trials. No single treatment was clearly superior. Surprisingly, oral antibiotics appeared to be more effective than antibiotics given into a vein for moderate and severe cellulitis. This merits further study. Antibiotics given by injection into a muscle were as effective as when given into a vein, with a lower incidence of adverse events. In one study the addition of corticosteroids to an antibiotic appeared to shorten the length of hospital stay, however further trials are needed. A single small study indicated vibration therapy may increase the rate of recovery but the results of single trials should be viewed with caution. We had insufficient data to give meaningful results for adverse events.