Management of atopic eczema in children aged up to 12 years: summary of NICE guidance

doi:10.1136/bmj.39405.503773.AD

BMJ 2007;335:1263-1264 (15 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.39405.503773.AD

Practice

Guidelines

Management of atopic eczema in children aged up to 12 years: summary of NICE guidance

Sue Lewis-Jones, consultant dermatologist¹, Moira A Mugglestone, deputy director², on behalf of the Guideline Development Group

¹ Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee DD1 9SY , ² National Collaborating Centre for Women’s and Children’s Health, London W1T 2QA

Correspondence to: M A Mugglestone mmugglestone@ncc-wch.org.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Why read this summary?

Atopic eczema affects one in five children in the United Kingdom¹and accounts for 1 in 30 consultations in community care.² Recentdata suggest that impaired skin barrier function is a majorcausative factor.³ ⁴ There may be considerable physical andemotional morbidity for the child and the parents or carers,particularly if the disease is poorly controlled.⁵ Yet mosthealthcare professionals receive little or no relevant trainingin dermatology,⁶ and lack of knowledge, confusion, and anxietyabout many of the available treatments are widespread amongparents.⁵ ⁷ This article summarises the most recent guidancefrom the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence(NICE) on how to manage atopic eczema in children from birthup to the age of 12 years.⁸

Recommendations

NICE recommendations are based on systematic reviews of thebest available evidence. When minimal evidence is available,a range of consensus techniques is used to develop recommendations.In this summary, . . . [Full text of this article]

Diagnosis and assessment
Box 1 Criteria for diagnosing atopic eczema in children
Box 2 Categorisation of physical severity of atopic eczema
Box 3 Categorisation of impact of atopic eczema on quality oflife
Management
Box 4 Stepped approach to management of atopic eczema
Box 5 Indications for referral for specialist dermatologicaladvice*
Immediate (same-day) referral
Urgent referral (seen within two weeks)
Routine (non-urgent) referral
Education and information

Overcoming barriers

Further information on the guidance
Background
What’s new?
Methods
Key areas for futureresearch
Extra references
Members of the Guideline Development Group
National Collaborating Centre for Women’s andChildren’s Health staff