Cellulitis Infection

[911RN]

Thanks 911 for that great explanation. Is it unlikely to be MRSA if there's no abscess drainage? My daughter has another red lump starting on her other leg -- not really inflammed & swollen like the first one. The other one seems to be getting better now. It's still about the size of a chalkboard eraser, but no longer swollen & purplish red. But she's fatigued and cold all the time now. She's sound asleep at 9:00 on a Friday night- 10 yrs old. A couple of weeks ago she was having a difficult time falling asleep. Also, is it less likely to be cellulitis (staph) if on both legs?

 

If treated promptly- may never develop abscess and/or drainage. Keflex will usally work for regular Staph but not MRSA. See below regarding two leg thing.

[philamom]

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Edited December 19, 2011 by philamom

[tpotter]

Thanks 911 for that great explanation. Is it unlikely to be MRSA if there's no abscess drainage? My daughter has another red lump starting on her other leg -- not really inflammed & swollen like the first one. The other one seems to be getting better now. It's still about the size of a chalkboard eraser, but no longer swollen & purplish red. But she's fatigued and cold all the time now. She's sound asleep at 9:00 on a Friday night- 10 yrs old. A couple of weeks ago she was having a difficult time falling asleep. Also, is it less likely to be cellulitis (staph) if on both legs?

 

 

DS18 had no drainage, and the doc said it was fibrous. But, he sat in the bathtub with epsom salts...went through 6# of the stuff in 1 day, unbeknownst to me! Boy was I concerned when I found out. BUT, that evening, he had such horrific pain, and couldn't sit, lie down, stand or anything, so DH rushed him to the ER. About 1/2 an hour later, he called me...said it had ruptured (which was interesting, because there supposedly wasn't anything to rupture before that), and the ER cleaned it up, put mupricin on it, and now he feels fine. I suppose the epsom salt baths pulled stuff up from deeper. He has an appointment with a surgeon next week.

[911RN]

Thanks 911 for that great explanation. Is it unlikely to be MRSA if there's no abscess drainage? My daughter has another red lump starting on her other leg -- not really inflammed & swollen like the first one. The other one seems to be getting better now. It's still about the size of a chalkboard eraser, but no longer swollen & purplish red. But she's fatigued and cold all the time now. She's sound asleep at 9:00 on a Friday night- 10 yrs old. A couple of weeks ago she was having a difficult time falling asleep. Also, is it less likely to be cellulitis (staph) if on both legs?

 

 

DS18 had no drainage, and the doc said it was fibrous. But, he sat in the bathtub with epsom salts...went through 6# of the stuff in 1 day, unbeknownst to me! Boy was I concerned when I found out. BUT, that evening, he had such horrific pain, and couldn't sit, lie down, stand or anything, so DH rushed him to the ER. About 1/2 an hour later, he called me...said it had ruptured (which was interesting, because there supposedly wasn't anything to rupture before that), and the ER cleaned it up, put mupricin on it, and now he feels fine. I suppose the epsom salt baths pulled stuff up from deeper. He has an appointment with a surgeon next week.

 

We recommend hot compresses to get abscesses to surface and drain. Your son did just that with his 6 warm baths! Brought it to the surface. Abscesses can be firm and not flatulent which just means it is firm, inflammed tissue not "ripe" or ready to have incision and drain (I&D). Our docs do I&D on ones that are ripe, culture drainage- pack it with thin strip packing gauze then have patients come back for recheck and packing removal 2 days later. Culture report is back by then and then they know if antibitoc treatment is correct. Like to keep abscess hole packed for few days so it heals from inside out and does not form a cavity that skin grows over to form another abscess. Use warm compresses after packing removed to keep hole open on surface of skin so area heals from inside out.It is not "fibrous" So many docs in private practice are not used to dealing with MRSA like ER's- we see them all the time. PCP's not so much. Hope he us feeling better! Has good outcome with surgeon.

 

There are other abscesses that rupture beside MRSA- can have sebaceous cysts, pylenoidal cysts etc. Treatment for those may still be I&D but they are not MRSA abscesses. Treatment is a bit different.

[philamom]

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Edited December 19, 2011 by philamom

[Santi]

Does anyone have any experience with this? My dd (10) has a cellulitis infection on her lower leg that the doctor says is probably due to a staph infection. It looks like it is now on her face. She started Keflex 500mg bid on Tuesday. I plan to take her back to the doctors tomorrow or Wednesday, but was wondering if I should be more concerned.

I had cellulitis a couple of years ago. One day I could not get out of bed. The fatigue was so overwhelming. Then, I think I got a fever. The next morning I woke with a horrible red rash all over my lower right leg. I got treated with abx (not sure what) and it got better fast. Andrea

[philamom]

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Edited December 19, 2011 by philamom