Reasons for inpatient dermatological consultation requested by other specialities: a five-year data analysis of 1,052 patients from a Portuguese tertiary teaching hospital

BACKGROUND: The involvement of a dermatologist in inpatient care can result in accurate diagnosis and prescription of appropriate treatment more promptly. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to analyse the main reasons for dermatological inpatient consultation in a tertiary centre. MATERIALS & METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed based on clinical registries that included inpatients observed in emergency dermatology consultation between January 1(st) 2016 to December 31(st) 2020 at the Hospital de Santa Maria, a tertiary teaching hospital in Lisbon, Portugal. RESULTS: In our dermatology emergency department, we performed 1,052 inpatient consultations during this five-year period. The most frequent diagnostic groups were infections and parasitic diseases (31.1%), inflammatory skin disorders (18.1%) and reactive erythemas (17.7%). Requests were most commonly (85.1%) made by medical specialities. CONCLUSION: Inpatient dermatological consultations grant access to expert management of drug-induced dermatoses, flares of chronic skin diseases, skin manifestations of systemic diseases and cutaneous infections. Prompt dermatological evaluation is essential for early diagnosis, thus enabling a better prognosis.