Prescribing habits for opioids are under scrutiny due to the epidemic of opioid related misuse, overdoses, deaths, and hospital admissions in the U.S. Current knowledge of how dermatologists’ prescribing habits contribute to the epidemic is limited, but guidelines recommend oral opioids as second-line agents after surgical excisions and Mohs microsurgery (MMS). Additionally, the published studies …
Ingenol mebutate (IngMeb) and diclofenac sodium (DS) are both approved for treating actinic keratosis (AK) on the face and scalp. A recent study compared them head-to-head for efficacy and safety. The authors hypothesized that due to factors such as superior clinical outcomes, favorable tolerability, and shorter treatment duration, IngMeb may be preferred by patients and …
Frequent hand washing with soap and water, use of antibacterial gels, and wearing disposable gloves are all best practice for healthcare workers safety. However, do these practices also lead to more incidence of hand eczema (HE)? Using a questionnaire, researchers surveyed more than 12,000 healthcare workers who were employees at hospitals in southern Sweden. The …
Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a relatively rare blistering skin disorder that causes intense itching, erythema, blisters and risk for secondary infection, mostly affecting patients older than 70. A recent clinical trial, The Bullous Pemphigoid Steroids and Tetracyclines (BLISTER), compared strategies of starting treatment with doxycycline or with oral prednisolone. The goals were to determine whether …
Cellulitis can be a costly infection for hospitals as studies place the cost around $4.5 billion of health care spending. Inappropriate diagnosis and treatment of cellulitis leads to unnecessary antibiotic use and that translates into somewhere between $195 and $515 million in avoidable health care costs each year. A recent study examined whether including a …
The benefits of colchicine have been reported for many years for joint pain, gout and other inflammatory ailments. The flower from which it is derived, Colchicum autumnale, was mentioned as a remedy as far back as 1500 BCE in an ancient Egyptian manuscript, though the FDA did not approve the derived colchicine for medications until …