The IV antibiotics for Paediatric Cellulitis guidelines are now up on the live HealthPathways site here.
Intravenous antibiotics
For cellulitis, consider intravenous antibiotics administered in the community for children aged ≥ 10 years who are stable but not responding to oral antibiotics (review full pathway for details). This is funded by POAC. Review exclusion criteria and if uncertain, seek paediatric advice.
Treatment:IV ceftriaxone 50 mg/kg/dose (max 2 g) administered once a day by intravenous infusion for up to 3 days.
Daily review by general practitioner under POAC.
If failure to respond after 48 hours, seek paediatric advice.
If improvement after second or third dose, remove the IV line and start oral cephalexin 12.5 to 25 mg/kg twice a day (maximum 1 g per dose) for 4 days.
For children aged < 10 years and skin conditions other than cellulitis, seek paediatric advice. If approved, refer to POAC and include name of hospital specialist.