Study Assessing Impact of Dermatology Consultation for Patients Admitted With Cellulitis
Cellulitis
About this trial
This is an interventional other trial for Cellulitis
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Able to understand and sign informed consent
- Able to complete study and comply with study procedures
- Presumed clinical diagnosis of cellulitis by medicine team
Exclusion Criteria:
- Have a known postoperative site infection or abscess
- Have a human/animal bite
- Have known osteomyelitis
- Have a hardware/line infection
- Are under the age of 18
- Have a history of transplantation less than six months after initial transplant and/or if they have had an episode of acute rejection in the last 90 days
- Known use of antithymocyte globulin or campath in the last 6 months or more than 20 mg/day of prednisone for more than 30 days -
- Are a known prisoner.
- Are decisionally-impaired.
- Have abnormal vital signs defined as systolic blood pressure <90 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure <80 mmHg, heart rate greater than 90 beats per minute or less than 50 beats per minute, respiratory rate greater than 20, or temperature > 100.5 F.
- Are known to be pregnant.
Sites / Locations
- Massachusetts General Hospital
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
No Intervention
Active Comparator
No consult
Dermatology Consult
Those who are in the control group will follow internal medicine hospitalist recommendations alone which will include when and what type of post-discharge follow-up appointments the patient will have. We would like to emphasize that as part of the standard of care, patients in the control arm may still receive a dermatology consult if it is deemed necessary and/or requested. We will not prevent patients or the patient's team of caregivers from requesting a dermatology consultation during the course of hospitalization. A follow-up phone call will be performed two weeks after discharge for patients in the control group in order to confirm the patient's outcome. There will also be a medical record review one month after the patient's initial discharge from the hospital to assess for readmission
The patients randomized to the treatment group will obtain a dermatology evaluation within 24 hours of being admitted to MGH for their cellulitis. The skin and lymph node exam performed by the dermatologist on patients in the treatment group will be documented in the LMR for the subjects' medical records. Patients who are readmitted for cellulitis within one month of being discharged from the hospital will be considered treatment failures. Patients in the treatment group will have a follow-up visit in dermatology clinic within two weeks after being discharged. There will also be a medical record review performed one month after the patient's initial discharge from the hospital to assess for readmission.