Introduction:

Infections in the skin and soft tissues are common health concerns in children, with a wide range of severity from patient to patient.

Objective:

To describe the clinical-epidemiological characteristics of the patients with soft tissue infections hospitalized in the Pediatric Teaching Hospital “Hermanos Cordové”.

Method:

An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out in the services of pediatric clinic in the Pediatric Teaching Hospital “Hermanos Cordové”, in Manzanillo, Cuba, during the year 2018. All discharged patients who had a confirmed diagnosis of this type of infection were studied (n=298). The following variables were taken into account: anatomical location, classifications of the different types of skin and soft tissue infections, treatment used and hospitalization.

Results:

Male gender prevailed in the patients (57.7 %), and also the ages ranging between 10 to 14 years old (34.9 %). Infections located on the limbs were described in 113 patients (37.9 %). Impetigo was the most common diagnosis (42.3 %), and the most frequently used antibiotic was cefazolin (77.2 %). Most of the patients were hospitalized up to 7 days (293), with a satisfactory evolution of the disease.

Conclusions:

Patients with soft tissue infections in the services of pediatric clinic in the Pediatric Teaching Hospital “Hermanos Cordové” are mainly characterized for being male, especially from ages raging between 10 to 14 years old, with impetigo being the most common infection, mostly located on the limbs. Cefalozin resulted very effective for the treatment of these infections, making possible the hospitalization time to be lesser than a week.

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