Pediatric dermatology inpatient consultations: a retrospective study.

Abstract

To describe the profile of inpatient consultations seen in department of pediatric dermatology at a tertiary care children's hospital. The authors performed a retrospective review of all pediatric dermatology inpatient consultation data from medical record section over a period of 42mo from January 2010 through June 2013. All children 18y and below were included in the study. A total of 486 inpatient consultation services were given by pediatric dermatology department. About 124 (25.5%) of consultations were in the age group of infancy followed by 103 (21.1%) consultations in the school going age children. Most frequent consultation request was from general pediatrics (49.4%) followed by pediatric intensive care (37.9%). The most common diagnostic categories included cutaneous infection (115, 23.7%), emergency skin conditions (62, 12.8%), genodermatosis (58, 11.9%) and skin disorders secondary to systemic illness (55, 11.3%). This study highlights the spectrum of conditions that clinicians must be aware that can be seen in general pediatric wards and intensive care unit. This study also highlights the role of pediatric dermatologist in giving care to hospitalized children.