OBJECTIVES: Cellulitis is a skin infection caused by bacteria. In children, cellulitis most often occurs on the face, legs, arms, or around the area near the anus. It can usually be treated with antibiotics (oral or topical). However, if not treated, the infection can spread and cause far more serious conditions such as meningitis or blood clots in the legs. The objective of this paper is to explore the data of pediatric patients who have cellulitis and to compare the results to patients who do not have the disease. Basic variables such as age, race, and gender are examined along with recorded patient diagnosis and procedure codes. METHODS: The statistical software SAS was used to analyze and explore the data supplied by the National Inpatient Sample for 2005. The dataset contained 1287 patients with cellulitis and a control group of 1300 without cellulitis. Statistical methods used include one-way frequencies, kernel densities, summary statistics, table analyses, logistic regression, and linear regression. We also examined the most frequent patient diagnoses and procedures for the patients in the dataset. RESULTS: The patients represented by the data are all pediatric. About 63% of patients with cellulitis are male, with about 37% female. The age group with the highest concentration of patients is 0-3 with about 29% of the total. Only 0.08% of the patients with cellulitis actually died. In general, the disease is not fatal. The average length of stay in the hospital is about 3.5 days. CONCLUSIONS: After the logistic and linear regressions, the results showed a small correlation with cellulitis. The likelihood of having a bacterial infection or having infections with microorganisms increases with cellulitis. The likelihood of having a venous catheterization, having the skin drained, or having the tendon sheath of the hand explored increases with cellulitis.