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INTRODUCTION: Digital ulcers (DUs) significantly impact on quality of life and function in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). The aim of our survey was to explore patients' perspectives and their unmet needs concerning SSc-DUs. MATERIALS: SSc patients were invited through international patient associations and social media to participate in an online survey. RESULTS: 358 responses were obtained from 34 countries: US (65.6%), UK (11.5%) and Canada (4.5%). Recurrent DUs are common: >10 DUs (46.1%), 5-10 DUs (21.5%), 1-5 DUs (28.5%), 1 DU (3.9%). Fingertip DUs were most frequent (84.9%), followed by those overlying the interphalangeal joints (50.8%). The impact of DUs in patients is broad, from broad-ranging emotional impacts to impact on activities of daily living, and personal relationships. Half (51.7%) of respondents reported that they received wound/ulcer care, most often provided by non-specialist wound care clinics (63.8%). There was significant variation in local (wound) DU care, in particular the use of debridement and pain management. DU-related education was only provided to one-third of patients. One-quarter (24.6%) were 'very satisfied' or 'satisfied' that the provided DU treatment(s) relieved their DU symptoms. Pain, limited hand function, and ulcer duration/chronicity were the main reasons for patients to consider changing DU treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that there is a large variation in DU treatment between countries. Patient access to specialist wound-care services is limited and only a small proportion of patients had their DU needs met. Moreover, patient education is often neglected. Evidence-based treatment pathways are urgently needed for DU management.
RESUMEN
Chest pain is a commonly encountered presentation in the emergency department (ED). The chest pain unit at Waikato DHB is designed for patients with likely stable angina, who are at low risk of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), with a normal ECG and Troponin T, who have a history which is highly suggestive of coronary artery disease (CAD). Two issues were identified with patient care on the unit (1) the number of inappropriate admissions and (2) the number of inappropriate exercise tolerance tests. A baseline study showed that 73% of admissions did not fulfil the criteria and the majority of patients (72%) had an exercise tolerance test (ETT) irrespective of clinical picture. We delivered educational presentations to key stakeholders and the implementation of a new fast track chest pain pathway for discharging patients directly from the ED. There was an improvement in the number of patients inappropriately admitted, which fell to 61%. However, the number of inappropriate ETTs did not decrease, and were still performed on 76.9% of patients.