Fatma S Afsar1,2. 1. Ataturk Research and Training Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Izmir, Turkey. uleafsar@hotmail.com. 2. Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Izmir, Turkey.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Although skin diseases are associated with low rate of hospitalization, dermatological manifestations are frequent in hospitalized patients. The aim of the study was to describe the inpatient dermatological consultations in a pediatric teaching hospital. POPULATION AND METHODS: Recorded data from inpatient pediatric dermatology consultation requests on a total of 539 consecutive inpatients (aged 0-18 years) from January 2004 to April 2010 were analyzed for consult diagnosis, dermatological disease group, primary diagnosis, requesting department, diagnostic pattern, treatment modality and referral to another department. RESULTS: Of the 539 inpatients, 310 (57.51%) were males and 229 (42.49%) were females. The most frequent requesting department was general pediatrics (37.5%) followed by oncology (15.6%) and pediatric surgery (11.1%). Most of the patients (32.1%) had been hospitalized for dermatological or related disease followed by acute lymphoblastic leukemia (4.1%), chronic renal failure (2.6%), bronchopneumonia (2.6%) and epilepsy (2.4%). Allergic skin diseases (47.1%) were the leading group of dermatoses, which were followed by infectious diseases (14.7%), and systemic diseases with cutaneous manifestations (10.2%). Atopic dermatitis (7.4%) and unclassified eczema (7.4%) were the most frequent dermatoses followed by papular urticaria (5.4%). Most of the patients (80.0%) had diagnosis on clinical basis, whereas skin biopsy was performed in 15.9% and laboratory investigation in 4.1% of the patients. Local treatment was applied to 50.8% of the patients, systemic treatment to 5.8%, local and systemic treatment together to 31.0% while no treatment was given to 11.1%. Only 1.9% of the patients were referred to another department. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided important data on the spectrum of skin disorders and their management in pediatric inpatients from the consultation perspective in a pediatric teaching hospital with multispecialty clinics.
INTRODUCTION: Although skin diseases are associated with low rate of hospitalization, dermatological manifestations are frequent in hospitalized patients. The aim of the study was to describe the inpatient dermatological consultations in a pediatric teaching hospital. POPULATION AND METHODS: Recorded data from inpatient pediatric dermatology consultation requests on a total of 539 consecutive inpatients (aged 0-18 years) from January 2004 to April 2010 were analyzed for consult diagnosis, dermatological disease group, primary diagnosis, requesting department, diagnostic pattern, treatment modality and referral to another department. RESULTS: Of the 539 inpatients, 310 (57.51%) were males and 229 (42.49%) were females. The most frequent requesting department was general pediatrics (37.5%) followed by oncology (15.6%) and pediatric surgery (11.1%). Most of the patients (32.1%) had been hospitalized for dermatological or related disease followed by acute lymphoblastic leukemia (4.1%), chronic renal failure (2.6%), bronchopneumonia (2.6%) and epilepsy (2.4%). Allergic skin diseases (47.1%) were the leading group of dermatoses, which were followed by infectious diseases (14.7%), and systemic diseases with cutaneous manifestations (10.2%). Atopic dermatitis (7.4%) and unclassified eczema (7.4%) were the most frequent dermatoses followed by papular urticaria (5.4%). Most of the patients (80.0%) had diagnosis on clinical basis, whereas skin biopsy was performed in 15.9% and laboratory investigation in 4.1% of the patients. Local treatment was applied to 50.8% of the patients, systemic treatment to 5.8%, local and systemic treatment together to 31.0% while no treatment was given to 11.1%. Only 1.9% of the patients were referred to another department. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided important data on the spectrum of skin disorders and their management in pediatric inpatients from the consultation perspective in a pediatric teaching hospital with multispecialty clinics.