Pediatric Panniculitis

Erythema nodosum causes painful, red bumps on the front of the lower legs.

Lipodermatosclerosis

Lipodermatosclerosis causes vein problems and obesity.

Subcutaneous sarcoidosis

Subcutaneous sarcoidosis, caused by sarcoidosis, is a condition that causes inflammatory cells to form unnaturally in various organs throughout the body.

• Bulging of one or both eyes
• Fatigue (extreme tiredness)
• Fever
• Nausea and vomiting
• Necrosis (tissue breakdown) around the areas of the bumps
• Oily substance that drains from the bumps
• Pain in the abdomen
• Pain in the joints and muscles
• Painful bumps that are often red in color and most commonly appear on the legs, feet, face, arms, chest, abdomen and buttocks
• Unintentional weight loss

There are many potential causes of panniculitis, including:

• Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
• Bacterial infection, such as tuberculosis or streptococcus 
• Crohn’s disease 
• Diabetes 
• Fungal infection
• Injury due to intense exercise, exposure to extremely cold temperatures or injections of medicine into the fat layer just underneath the skin
• Leukemia (cancer that affects the blood cells)
• Lupus (immune disorder that causes ongoing inflammation throughout the body)
• Lymphoma (cancer that affects the lymph nodes and vessels that carry lymph fluid throughout the body)
• Pancreatic diseases
• Parasitic infection
• Rheumatoid arthritis 
• Sarcoidosis (condition that causes inflammatory cells to form unnaturally in various organs throughout the body)
• Scleroderma (immune system disorder that affects the skin)
• Ulcerative colitis (UC) 
• Viral infection

Risk Factors

A child is at a higher risk for developing panniculitis if they have an infection, an inflammatory disease or a connective tissue disorder. This condition more often affects females than it does males.