Original articleInpatient dermatology consultation aids diagnosis of cellulitis among hospitalized patients: A multi-institutional analysis
Section snippets
Patient population
This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review boards at all participating institutions. All inpatient dermatology consultations conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center, University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, and University of California San Francisco Medical Center in 2008 were recorded. Each institution is staffed with 1 or more full-time inpatient dermatologists who evaluated each consult with a resident
Results
In 2008, 1430 inpatient dermatology consultations were conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center, University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, and University of California San Francisco Medical Center with approximately equal numbers of consults conducted at each institution (Table I). A total of 74 (5.17%) consults were for the evaluation of cellulitis. Across all institutions, the mean age of the cellulitis population was 56.20
Discussion
Past studies have demonstrated that accurately diagnosing cellulitis in both the inpatient and outpatient setting is clinically challenging. Bauer and Maroon6 conducted a retrospective analysis of inpatient dermatology consultations at a single institution and reported that 33% of the 21 patients who were consulted for the evaluation of cellulitis had an alternative diagnosis. In a prospective study at 2 institutions, David et al7 found that of 145 patients admitted with cellulitis, 28% of the
References (18)
- et al.
Dermatology inpatient consultations: a retrospective study
J Am Acad Dermatol
(2010) - et al.
Lower limb cellulitis and its mimics, part I: lower limb cellulitis
J Am Acad Dermatol
(2012) - et al.
Cellulitis: evaluation of possible predisposing factors in hospitalized patients
Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis
(1999) - et al.
Erysipelas and cellulitis: clinical and microbiological spectrum in an Italian tertiary care hospital
J Infect
(2005) - Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) databases. Overview of the...
The DRG handbook comparative clinical and financial benchmarks
(2006)- et al.
Hospitalizations for cellulitis in Canada: a database study
J Cutan Med Surg
(2014) - et al.
National trends in ambulatory visits and antibiotic prescribing for skin and soft-tissue infections
Arch Intern Med
(2008) - et al.
Recurrent lower extremity pseudocellulitis
Am J Ther
(2012)
Cited by (0)
Funding sources: None.
Conflicts of interest: None declared.