Published 25 August 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2997
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2997

Practice

10-Minute Consultation

Exacerbation of atopic eczema in children

Matthew Ridd, National Institute for Health Research clinical lecturer , Sarah Purdy, consultant senior lecturer and Medical Research Council clinician scientist

1 Academic Unit of Primary Health Care, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2AA

Correspondence to: M Ridd m.ridd@bristol.ac.uk

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

A father attends with his 18 month old son Samuel because "his eczema is playing up."

Ask how long the patient has had eczema and what does his father already know about it? Ask what is meant by "playing up." Specifically ask about itch and how the patient’s activities and sleep have been affected. Find out what treatments (prescribed, over the counter, and alternative) have been used. Identify and deal with confusion or concerns—for example, about emollient greasiness or steroid side effects. Acknowledge practical problems such as the need to have an emollient always to hand. Ask about reasons why the patient’s eczema has worsened. Review trigger factors such as soaps, detergents, and allergens.

Examine the patient to see how he is generally. See which areas of skin are affected. Look for dryness, redness, scratch marks, and infection. Confirm the diagnosis, remembering that the distribution differs between ages and ethnic . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Management of atopic eczema in children aged up to 12 years: summary of NICE guidance
Sue Lewis-Jones, Moira A Mugglestone on behalf of the Guideline Development Group
BMJ 2007 335: 1263-1264. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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