The Evaluation of Dermatological Disease Profiles of Neurosurgery Inpatients: A Tertiary Clinic Experience

Abstract

Background: Both the skin and neuronal systems originate from the ectoderm. In patients hospitalized for neurosurgery, their skin may be affected by genetic and environmental factors.

Objective: This study researched disease relationships by evaluating the profile of hospitalized neurosurgery patients who consulted with dermatology in a tertiary clinic (Neurosurgery Clinic, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara).

Methods: This study included hospitalized neurosurgery patients who consulted with dermatology. Age, gender, type of hospitalization, neurosurgical diseases, and dermatology diseases were selected as study variables. The medical health records of the patients were retrospectively scanned and analyzed.

Results: A total of 172 consultations were analyzed. The mean age of patients was 44.7 years old ranging from 1 year to 99 years old. The percentage of male patients was 54.7%; 25.5% of the patients were hospitalized for cerebral vascular diseases, 30.2% for spinal diseases, 22.1% for tumors, 12.2% for infections, and 1.2% for other neurosurgical diseases. The most commonly diagnosed dermatological disease in patients was drug eruptions (18.6%), followed by seborrheic dermatitis (16.2%) and contact dermatitis (14.5%).

Conclusion: According to this study, the most commonly diagnosed dermatological diseases in neurosurgery inpatients were drug eruption, contact dermatitis, and seborrheic dermatitis. The results of this study may be helpful in terms of neurosurgical training planning and treatment management.

Keywords: contact dermatitis; dermatology; neurosurgery; nitrofurazone; seborrheic.

Figure 1. The distribution of dermatologic diseases