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Table 2 Baseline clinical presentations of infection site, overall and by infection type

From: A prospective, multicenter, observational study of complicated skin and soft tissue infections in hospitalized patients: clinical characteristics, medical treatment, and outcomes

 

Overall

Diabetic foot infection

Surgical site infection

Deep soft tissue abscess

Cellulitis

(N=1,033)

(N=278)

(N=330)

(N=147)

(N=278)

Infection site (%)

 Abdomen

11.8

0.0

29.7

6.1

5.4

 Upper leg

6.8

0.0

12.1

9.5

5.8

 Lower leg#

23.7

12.2

16.4

12.9

49.6

 Foot

28.5

87.1

6.4

1.4

10.4

 Other*

28.5

0.0

33.9

70.1

28.4

 Missing

0.8

0.7

1.5

0.0

0.4

Deepest involvement: N (%)

 Epidermis/dermis

274 (23.9)

79 (28.4)

55 (16.7)

20 (13.6)

120 (43.2)

 Subcutaneous tissue

575 (55.7)

153 (55.0)

179 (54.2)

101 (68.7)

142 (51.1)

 Fascial plane

115 (11.1)

30 (10.8)

56 (17.0)

18 (12.2)

11 (4.0)

 Muscle

55 (5.3)

12 (4.3)

33 (10.0)

8 (5.4)

2 (0.7)

 Missing

14 (13.6)

4 (14.4)

7 (2.1)

0 (0.0)

3 (1.1)

Regional adenopathy: N (%)

 Present

114 (11.0)

23 (8.3)

20 (6.1)

31 (21.1)

40 (14.4)

 Absent

901 (87.2)

252 (90.6)

299 (90.6)

114 (77.6)

236 (84.9)

 Missing

18 (1.7)

3 (0.1)

11 (3.3)

2 (1.4)

2 (0.1)

Erythema: N (%)

 Absent

73 (7.1)

20 (7.2)

38 (11.5)

8 (5.4)

7 (2.5)

 Mild

218 (21.1)

57 (20.5)

102 (30.9)

26 (17.7)

33 (11.9)

 Moderate

516 (50.0)

154 (55.4)

135 (40.9)

76 (51.7)

151 (54.3)

 Severe

216 (20.9)

44 (15.8)

49 (14.8)

37 (25.2)

86 (30.9)

 Missing

10 (1.0)

3 (1.1)

6 (1.8)

0 (0.0)

1 (0.4)

Abscess: N (%)

 Absent

713 (69.0)

214 (77.0)

244 (73.9)

15 (10.2)$

240 (86.3)

 Mild

102 (9.9)

30 (10.8)

24 (7.3)

35 (23.8)

13 (4.7)

 Moderate

160 (15.5)

25 (9.0)

43 (13.0)

72 (49.0)

20 (7.2)

 Severe

46 (4.5)

6 (2.2)

11 (3.3)

25 (17.0)

4 (1.4)

 Missing

12 (1.2)

3 (1.1)

8 (2.4)

0 (0.0)

1 (0.4)

Induration: N (%)

 Absent

230 (22.3)

72 (25.9)

89 (27.0)

20 (13.6)

49 (17.6)

 Mild

280 (27.1)

75 (27.0)

102 (30.9)

24 (16.3)

79 (28.4)

 Moderate

390 (37.8)

105 (37.8)

99 (30.0)

73 (49.7)

113 (40.6)

 Severe

120 (11.6)

22 (7.9)

33 (10.0)

30 (20.4)

35 (12.6)

 Missing

13 (1.3)

4 (1.4)

7 (2.1)

0 (0.0)

2 (0.7)

Tenderness: N (%)

 Absent

98 (9.5)

55 (19.8)

21 (6.4)

6 (4.1)

16 (5.8)

 Mild

265 (25.7)

85 (30.6)

91 (27.6)

21 (14.3)

68 (24.5)

 Moderate

445 (43.1)

108 (38.8)

147 (44.5)

63 (24.5)

127 (45.7)

 Severe

213 (20.6)

27 (9.7)

64 (19.4)

57 (38.8)

65 (23.4)

 Missing

12 (1.2)

3 (1.1)

7 (2.1)

0 (0.0)

2 (0.7)

Pain: N (%)

 Absent

102 (9.9)

56 (20.1)

22 (6.7)

5 (3.4)

19 (6.8)

 Mild

228 (22.1)

81 (29.1)

79 (23.9)

14 (9.5)

54 (19.4)

 Moderate

425 (41.1)

97 (34.9)

142 (43.0)

62 (42.2)

124 (44.6)

 Severe

268 (25.9)

41 (14.7)

82 (24.8)

66 (44.9)

79 (28.4)

 Missing

10 (1.0)

3 (1.1)

5 (1.5)

0 (0.0)

2 (0.7)

Local warmth: N (%)

 Absent

94 (9.1)

22 (7.9)

53 (16.1)

9 (6.1)

10 (3.6)

 Mild

342 (33.1)

105 (37.8)

136 (41.2)

31 (21.1)

70 (25.2)

 Moderate

478 (46.3)

126 (45.3)

109 (33.0)

85 (57.8)

158 (56.8)

 Severe

105 (10.2)

21 (7.6)

24 (7.3)

22 (15.0)

38 (13.7)

 Missing

14 (1.4)

4 (1.4)

8 (2.4)

0 (0.0)

2 (0.7)

Open wound: N (%)

 Yes

682 (66.0)

255 (91.7)

249 (75.5)

78 (53.1)

100 (36.0)

 No

343 (33.2)

21 (7.6)

76 (23.0)

69 (46.9)

177 (63.7)

 Missing

8 (0.8)

2 (0.7)

5 (1.5)

0 (0.0)

1 (0.4)

Wound score^: mean (median, range)

 5-item

8.4 (8.0, 0–15)

7.5 (7.5, 0–15)

7.8 (8.0, 0–15)

10.0 (10.0, 0–15)

9.3 (9.0, 2–15)

 8-item

17.8 (17, 4–43)

15.7 (15, 4–37)

19.5 (18, 5–43)

20.8 (20, 4–39)

17.0 (16, 8–38)

 10-item

20.2 (19, 5–46)

17.8 (18, 5–41)

22.5 (21, 8–46)

23.5 (22.5, 7–43)

18.6 (17, 8–41)

  1. #For a diabetic foot infection, infection site would be on the ankle or below.
  2. *Other infection sites included face, scalp, neck, chest, pelvis/genitals, back, buttocks, hand, upper arm, and lower arm.
  3. $Although DSTA was the dominant diagnosis, the abscess was not present at baseline for some patients (i.e., the abscess developed during hospitalization).
  4. ^Note: The 5-item wound parameter was estimated for both open and non-open wounds, but was available only for a portion of the total patient population (98.5%). 8-item and 10-item wound severity scores were calculated only among patients with an open wound, but was available only for a portion of patients (83%).