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INTRODUCTION

KEY POINTS

  • Cellulitis is an infectious process that carries the risk for sepsis if not treated in a timely manner.

  • In lighter skin, it tends to be bright red and well demarcated and can have accompanying signs of warmth and tenderness.

  • In darker skin, cellulitis can be violaceous to dusky gray and more subtle with significant masking of the erythema, which can lead to risk of missed or delayed diagnoses.

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FIGURE 12-1.

Brown to pink patch along the lateral shin of a dark-skinned person. Note the subtlety of the erythema more proximally on the leg. (Reproduced with permission from Kang S, Amagai M, Bruckner AL, et al. Fitzpatrick’s Dermatology, 9th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill; 2019, Figure 151-1.)

FIGURE 12-2.

Bright-red edematous patch along the shin of the lower extremity. (Reproduced with permission from Wolff K, Johnson RA, Saavedra AP, et al. Fitzpatrick’s Color Atlas and Synopsis of Clinical Dermatology, 8th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill; 2017, Figure 25-27.)

FIGURE 12-3.

Deep-red edematous patch extending along the upper extremity. (Reproduced with permission from Kang S, Amagai M, Bruckner AL, et al. Fitzpatrick’s Dermatology, 9th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill; 2019, Figure 151-2B.)

FIGURE 12-4.

Pink-violaceous plaque on the dorsal foot, with a localized gangrenous plaque at the base of the second dorsal digit in a person with diabetes. (From Usatine RP, Smith MA, Mayeaux EJ Jr, et al. The Color Atlas and Synopsis of Family Medicine, 3rd ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill; 2019, Figure 126-3. Reproduced with permission from Richard P. Usatine, MD.)

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