Drs. J Marie Kim and William Connors

Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are exceedingly common and account for up to 10% of all hospital admissions in Western countries. The most common SSTIs, cellulitis, refers to diffuse, superficial, spreading skin infections, often with significant inflammation of lymphatic vessels. Cellulitis can frequently recur and studies have shown that up to 29% of admissions with cellulitis were due to repeat episodes. Prophylactic therapies and mitigating of risk factors have been recently shown to reduce recurrence. The focus of this article is the prevention of recurrent, lower-extremity, nonpurulent cellulitis that is not associated with major penetrating trauma, preceding leg ulceration, or surgery.