Premium
Lower limb cellulitis: low diagnostic accuracy and underdiagnosis of risk factors
Author(s) -
Mistry K.,
Sutherland M.,
Levell N. J.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
clinical and experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1365-2230
pISSN - 0307-6938
DOI - 10.1111/ced.13930
Subject(s) - overdiagnosis , cellulitis , medicine , primary care , risk factor , lower limb , dermatology , pediatrics , physical therapy , surgery , family medicine
Summary Accurate diagnosis and recognition of predisposing factors has been shown to be challenging in lower limb cellulitis ( LLC ). Assessment of 1746 consecutive patients with cellulitis presenting to a UK university hospital showed increasing overdiagnosis, with only 31.9% of patients referred during the period 2015–2018 having the diagnosis of LLC confirmed. Recognition of at least one predisposing factor increased from 61% to 89% following introduction of more specific screening questions. This identified a need for better primary care dermatology education and the benefit of a proforma with specific screening questions for reversible predisposing factors for LLC .