Is There an Additional Value of Inpatient Treatment for Patients with Atopic Dermatitis?

An inpatient treatment and education programme has been developed for patients with difficult to control atopic dermatitis (AD), with the aim of achieving adequate self-management and long-term disease control. This observational study included adult patients diagnosed with difficult to control AD, admitted for a structured inpatient treatment and education programme. The primary outcome was the Six Area, Six Sign Atopic Dermatitis (SASSAD) score. In total, 79 patients (mean ± SD age 38.8 ± 17.1 years) were included. The median duration of hospitalization was 11 days (interquartile range 8-14). The mean percentage decrease in SASSAD score between admission and discharge was 60.7%, of which 64 (81.0%) patients achieved SASSAD50. The mean percentage decrease in SASSAD score was 69.0% during follow-up, of which 63 (79.7%) patients still had a SASSAD50. In the majority of these patients with difficult to control AD the admission resulted in sustained disease control. This could be achieved by optimization of treatment with topical corticosteroids.

WHO Safer Surgery checklist compliance amongst paediatric emergency plastic surgery patients in an UK hospital.

INTRODUCTION: The WHO Safer Surgery checklist has become an important component of perioperative safety. Our objective, was to determine the compliance of completing the checklist for paediatric emergency plastic surgery patients at our unit. METHODS: An initial baseline was performed with 70 patients over two months at our unit. Following this, we raised awareness at an audit meeting and closed the audit loop using 80 patients over two months. The audit is reported in line with SQUIRE 2.0 criteria. RESULTS: Initial compliance was 88% overall and this increased to 91% post-intervention. Compliance with the individual stages in both cycles was for sign-in: 85%-86%, for time-out 92%-98% and for sign-out 86%-89%. Around one in four checklists were not scanned in both periods. CONCLUSION: This audit showed a high overall level of compliance in the checklists that were scanned and available for scrutiny. We have identified the areas that most need improvement and suggest ways for doing so.