Etiology and treatment of facial cellulitis in pediatric patients

By a retrospective chart review patients with buccal cellulitis were divided into groups with and without a probable portal of entry of infection at the time of diagnosis. Tooth abscesses or breaks in the skin were the usual portals of entry. Patients with a portal of entry were significantly older (P less than 0.001), had lower white blood cell counts on admission (P less than 0.01) and recovered more rapidly (P = 0.001). Haemophilus influenzae type b was recovered only from those with no portal of entry. Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes caused infection in both groups but were more frequent in those with a portal of entry. Bacteremia was proved only in the group with no portal, and H. influenzae b grew from 14 to 15 positive blood cultures. All cultures of cerebrospinal fluid yielded no growth. We suggest that patients with no portal of entry on presentation receive initial parenteral therapy for H. influenzae b and Gram-positive cocci. Our current regimen is a combination of a semisynthetic penicillinase-resistant penicillin such as oxacillin and chloramphenicol. Oxacillin alone is indicated for those with a break in the skin leading to infection, whereas penicillin is appropriate for patients with dental infection. This initial therapy should be altered depending upon culture results when available.