The Use of Oral Steroids in the Treatment of Cellulitis

Cellulitis Clinical Trial

Official title:

Utility of Prednisone in the Treatment of Cellulitis

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Withdrawn

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00893048
• Other study ID #: 8876
• Status: Withdrawn
• Phase: Phase 2
• First received: May 1, 2009
• Last updated: July 21, 2017
• Start date: January 15, 2010
• Est. completion date: August 31, 2010

Study information

• Verified date: July 2017
• Source: Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

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.

Description:

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Withdrawn
• Enrollment: 0
• Est. completion date: August 31, 2010
• Est. primary completion date: August 31, 2010
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 70 Years

Eligibility

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

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Cellulitis
• Erysipelas

Intervention

Drug:
• Prednisone
Prednisone, 60 mg, one time at time of diagnosis
• Placebo Oral Tablet
Placebo

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Time to cellulitis resolving		48 hours after initiation of treatment
Secondary	Length of stay		after treatment completed