Risk Factors for Clinical Failure in Cellulitis and Skin Abscess

Although most individuals with cellulitis or skin abscess are managed as outpatients, hospital admission is sometimes necessary. Several risk factors for hospitalization have been identified. Now, investigators in California have conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine factors associated with clinical failure in hospitalized patients with these skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTIs) — an issue that has previously received scant attention.

The study was conducted at a single academic tertiary-care hospital and involved 210 adults admitted between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2011, for cellulitis with or without abscess. Clinical failure was defined as treatment failure (repeat incision and drainage, change in antibiotic therapy, or —…