Risk factors associated with local complications of erysipelas: a retrospective study of 152 cases

Erysipelas is a common skin infection. Hemorrhagic, bullous, abcessing and necrotic lesions are the major local complications. However, their occurrence factors are not clearly known. The aim of this study is to identify the risk factors associated with the occurrence of local complications of Erysipelas. Medical records from all patients hospitalized with local complications of erysipelas admitted to the Military Hospital of Rabat between 2005 and 2015, were retrospectively studied. Using an univariate and multivariate statistical study, the main characteristics were compared with those from patients with erysipelas without local complications. In total, 152 patients were analysed, of whom 72 had local disease complications. Using univariate analysis, the factors significantly associated with disease complications were found to be: age ≤ 50 years, female gender, heart disease, smoking, taking antibiotics or non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug before hospitalization, and accelerated sedimentation rate. However, in multivariate analysis, taking antibiotics before hospitalization (OR 5.15, 95% CI 1.28 to 20.72, P = 0.01) and accelerated sedimentation rate (OR 5, 15, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.06, P = 0.001) were the only independent factors associated with complicated erysipelas. Our study showed that prior antibiotics taking and higher sedimentation rate are independent risk factors for local complications of erysipelas. Patients with these characteristics should be carefully evaluated and monitored.