• Suvarna Samudrala, Sukumar Dandakeri, and Ramesh M Bhat.
• Father Muller Medical College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
• Int. J. Dermatol. 2018 May 1; 57 (5): 575-579.

BackgroundAlthough dermatology is largely considered as an outpatient specialty, dermatological conditions comprise 5-8% of cases presenting to the emergency department. The need for a dermatological intensive care unit is widely acknowledged due to the increasing incidence of acute skin failure. Very few studies have been done to characterize the common conditions seen in the emergency department and intensive care units. We undertook this study to analyze the spectrum of dermatological conditions presenting to the emergency department and the clinical profile of patients admitted to the intensive care unit.MethodsA prospective study was conducted for 9 months. Patients requiring primary dermatological consultation in the emergency department and patients admitted in the dermatology intensive care unit were examined, and their clinical variables were statistically analyzed.ResultsA total of 248 cases were seen in the emergency department, out of which 72 (29.1%) cases were admitted and 176 (70.9%) were treated in the emergency department on an outpatient basis. The most common condition seen in non-admitted patients was acute urticaria (28.9%). The most common cause for admission in patients presenting to the emergency department was erythroderma (23.6%). Sixty-two patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, the most common diagnosis being erythroderma (40.3%).ConclusionsThis prospective study aimed to provide an insight into the types of cases evaluated in the emergency department by dermatologists in a large tertiary care hospital in coastal Karnataka in South India.© 2018 The International Society of Dermatology.

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