ABSTRACT

Reasons for application to emergency departments may vary, in dermatology as well as in other branches, according to the geographic regions, climatic and socio-cultural structures. The aim of this study is to gain epidemiological knowledge about the identification, clinical features, treatment and follow-up procedures of patients who attended with dermatologic problems to the emergency department of an university hospital in an island with a subtropical climate in Mediterranean area.

In this retrospective descriptive study, patients who were admitted to the emergency department with a dermatological complaint during an 18-month period between July 2010 and December 2011 in the Emergency Department of Near East University Hospital, Nicosia, TRNC were evaulated. Descriptive statistics were evaluated as mean and percentage.

1.8% (206 of total 11441) of applications to the emergency department were dermatological diseases. Urticaria/angioedema was the most common cause of applications, and was followed by drug reactions, insect bites and cellulitis respectively.

Results of our study indicate that the most common reason for application to the emergency department in North Cyprus is urticaria, and this finding is consistent with other studies in the world. However, insect stings are more common and have specific features.

Keywords: Emergency, dermatology, Cyprus, pruritus, epidemiology