Recurrent leg cellulitis: pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention.

Recurrent cellulitis can develop in a variety of settings. Recurrent febrile episodes associated with arm or leg infections, sometimes described as erysipelatous, have been noted for years to occur in the setting of filarial, postoperative, or idiopathic chronic lymphedema. I More recently, recurrent cellulitis has been described as a late complication of coronary artery bypass venectomy,2-8 pelvic surgery, such as vulvectomy with lymphadenectomy9 or hysterectomy with lymph adenectomy, 10 or of pelvic irradiation after hysterectomy.11,12 The cause of recurrent cellulitis has not been precisely defined but appears to be multifactorial, involving mechanical, infectious, and immune-mediated factors. We present a case of a woman with recurrent cellulitis of the legs and briefly review the literature concerning the pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention of this perplexing problem.