The Use of Oral Steroids in the Treatment of Cellulitis

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The prevalence of cellulitis in society is very high, as much as 3% of visits to Emergency Departments are for the treatment of this disease. The treatment of cellulitis varies depending on the severity. Low severity cases are treated with pain control and antibiotics by mouth and high severity are treated with antibiotics intravenously and pain control. The investigator's hypothesis is to see if the addition of steroids, which are known to decrease inflammation, will decrease the length of the disease process. If so, it will decrease the length of stay if IV antibiotics are needed, it will decrease duration of days out of work and decrease the overall pain control required and therefore patient satisfaction.

Detailed Description
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The incidence of cellulitis is about 24.6 cases per 1000 person-years, which is an estimate, since cellulitis is not a reportable disease. In some Emergency Departments up to 3% of visits are for cellulitis. Depending on the severity of the disease, some are treated as outpatients, and others are admitted for IV antibiotics. In some Emergency Departments cases of cellulitis are treated in an observation area for 23 hours with doses of IV antibiotics. My proposed research is to see if the addition of one dose of prednisone the treatment will decrease the inflammatory reaction enough to decrease length of stay and treatment and increase patient satisfaction.

Official Title
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Utility of Prednisone in the Treatment of Cellulitis

Conditions
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Cellulitis, Erysipelas

Intervention / Treatment
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* Drug: Prednisone
* Drug: Placebo Oral Tablet


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: 18-70 years old signs/symptoms of cellulitis Exclusion Criteria: steroid use in last 2 weeks hx of adrenal insufficiency suspicion for dvt or abcess systemic signs of sepsis ICU admission

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 70 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Prednisone<br>Use of prednisone to decrease LOS and overall treatment time of cellulitis | Drug: Prednisone<br>* Prednisone, 60 mg, one time at time of diagnosis<br>* Other names: sterapred DS;|
| Experimental: Placebo<br> | Drug: Placebo Oral Tablet<br>* Placebo<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Time to cellulitis resolving |  | 48 hours after initiation of treatment | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Length of stay |  | after treatment completed | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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prednisone, cellulitis, erysipelas, steroids, oral