Cellulitis mimickers

Differential Diagnosis

Common

• Vascular disorders
  • Superficial thrombophlebitis
  • Deep venous thrombosis (DVT)
• Dermatologic disorders
  • Contact dermatitis
  • Insect stings or bites, or other envenemation
  • Drug reactions
  • Eosinophilic cellulitis (Wells syndrome)
  • Sweet syndrome
• Rheumatic disorders
  • Gouty arthritis
• Immunologic disorders
  • Erythromelalgia
  • Relapsing polychondritis
• Malignant disorders
  • Carcinoma erysipelatoides
• Familial disorders
  • Familial Mediterranean fever
  • Familial Hibernian fever
• Foreign-body reactions
  • Reaction to metal implant
  • Mesh intolerance
  • Foreign-body granulomatous reactions, such as to silicone injections and paraffin oils

Uncommon

• Dermatologic disorders
  • Urticaria and angioedema
  • Follicular occlusion triad
    • Hidradenitis suppurativa
    • Acne conglobata
    • Dissecting cellulitis of the scap (perifolliculitis capitis abscedens et suffodiens)
• Vascular disorders
  • Lymphedema
• Immunologic disorders
  • Lupus erythematosus
  • Sarcoidosis
  • Polyarteritis nodosa
• Panniculitis
  • Septal
    • Erythema nodosum
    • Lipodermatosclerosis
    • Morphea
    • Eosinophilic fasciitis
    • Eosinophilia myalgia syndrome
  • Lobular
    • Physical panniculitis
      • Colid-induced
      • Traumatic
      • Chemical
      • Factitious
      • Postirradiation
    • Panniculitis associated with systemic disease
      • Pancreatic panniculitis
      • Lupus panniculitis
      • Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency
    • Weber-Christian disease
    • Cytophagic histiocytic panniculitis
    • Post-steroid panniculitis
    • Nodular vascultiis
• Malignant disorders
  • Lyphoma
  • Leukemia
  • Paget disease of the breast
  • Extramammary Paget disease
  • Glucogonoma
• Other disorders
  • Calciphylaxis
  • Compartment syndrome

Further Reading

• Falagas ME and Vergidis PI. Narrative review: diseases that masquerade as infectious cellulitis. Ann Intern Med. 2005 Jan 4;142(1):47-55.