Print Print
CKS is no longer commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). NICE remains committed to providing a replacement service for CKS and is currently reviewing its options. In the meantime, although CKS content is now not being maintained, it still remains relevant and will continue to be made available. CKS content was generated under a programme of topic creation and update. To check if the topic you are viewing is current or out of date, please refer to the topic publication details by clicking on the 'How up-to-date is this topic?' link in the left hand menu on individual topic pages.

Cellulitis - acute - Management
Basis for recommendation

This recommendation is based on Guidelines on the management of cellulitis, published by the Clinical Resource Efficiency Support Team [CREST, 2005].

  • Culture taken from a swab of broken skin (before antibiotic treatment is started) may be useful if empirical treatment proves to be ineffective; however, yields from such swabs tend to be low [Bishara et al, 2001; Swartz and Pasternack, 2005]. Other investigations (e.g. blood tests) are only required if the person is ill enough to warrant admission to hospital.

© NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement