Background: Although Dermatology is largely considered an outpatient specialty, there is an increasing need for Dermatology input in the acute and inpatient setting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dermatology services had to be reorganized to facilitate staff redeployment and minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for patients and staff. This led to an unprecedented increase in teleconsultations aided by clinical images.
Objectives: The main aim of our retrospective study was to analyse the acute Dermatology referrals received in the pre-COVID-19 era and during COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: We retrospectively analysed acute Dermatology referrals using the acute referral log.
Results: We retrospectively analysed 500 and 110 acute Dermatology referrals received in the pre-COVID-19 period and during COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. In the pre-COVID-19 era, consultations were most commonly requested by Oncology/Haemato-Oncology, Emergency Departments and General Practice, while during the COVID-19 pandemic General Practice was the most common source of referrals. A wide variety of dermatological conditions were encountered with the most common been eczematous dermatoses.
Conclusions: Although Dermatology is largely an outpatient-based specialty, this study shows the demand for urgent Dermatology input the care of sick patients with severe skin diseases and in the management of skin problems in patients admitted or receiving treatment for other diseases. Re-organization of Dermatology services during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a marked increase in teleconsultations (28% versus 84.5%) and highlighted the importance of complete skin-directed physical examination by the referring clinician as well as procurement of good quality clinical images.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jdv.18997 | DOI Listing |
Int J Integr Care
December 2024
Changi General Hospital, Singhealth, Singapore.
This study documents the experience of implementing an adaptation of the Hospital-at-Home (HaH) model to alleviate the constraints in available hospital beds and manpower amid a surge in infection rates in Singapore during the Omicron and XBB COVID waves, addressing challenges and proposing insights for scalable implementation. HaH substitutes inpatient hospitalizations by leveraging existing community healthcare services and remote healthcare technologies. This HaH adaptation was designed to be activated in during surges and deactivated when bed and manpower demands stabilize, making it less intensive on hospital resources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Integr Care
December 2024
Discipline of Occupational Therapy, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
Background: Social prescribing link workers support patients to connect with community resources to improve their health and well-being. These roles are prominent in policy, but there is limited evidence on what support is provided by link workers and what factors influence implementation of link worker interventions.
Methods: A convergent, mixed methods process evaluation of an exploratory randomised trial of a one-month general practice-based link worker intervention targeting adults with multimorbidity in deprived areas.
CHEST Crit Care
December 2024
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care (G. L. A.), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA; the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (S. M. S.), University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY; the Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care (A. R., Z. F., and M. T. D. S.), Greys Hospital, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, the Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care (J. I.), Harry Gwala Regional Hospital, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, Pietermaritzburg, the Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care (R. D. W. and M. T. D. S.), School of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; the Faculty Medicine and Pharmacy (R. D. W.), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium; and the Department of Intensive Care (R. D. W.), John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University Trust Hospitals, Oxford, England.
Background: A proposed new global definition of ARDS seeks to update the Berlin definition and account for nonintubated ARDS and ARDS diagnoses in resource-variable settings.
Research Question: How do ARDS epidemiologic characteristics change with operationalizing the new global definition of ARDS in a resource-limited setting?
Study Design And Methods: We performed a real-use retrospective cohort study among adult patients meeting criteria for the Berlin definition of ARDS or the global definition of ARDS at ICU admission in two public hospitals in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, South Africa, from January 2017 through June 2022.
Results: Among 5,760 adults (aged ≥ 18 years) admitted to the ICU, 2,027 patients (35.
Cytotechnology
February 2025
Laboratory LR11ES45, Research Group"Biotechnology and Pathology", National School of Engineers of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
The clinical evidence, complications and the pathogenesis of COVID-19 are not clearly understood. In COVID-19 patients, cellular immune response biomarkers and oxidative stress parameters have been used as gravity markers. Indeed, oxidative stress has been proposed to play an essential role in the genesis of COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
December 2024
Colorectal Surgery, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, Torbay, GBR.
Telemedicine in surgical care has undergone rapid advancements in recent years, leveraging technologies such as telerobotics, artificial intelligence (AI) diagnostics, and wearable devices to facilitate remote evaluation and monitoring of patients. These innovations have improved access to care, reduced costs, and enhanced patient satisfaction. However, significant challenges remain, including technical barriers, limited tactile feedback in telesurgery, and inequities arising from digital literacy and infrastructure gaps.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!