Dermatologic Emergencies

Emergency medical conditions involve rapid decision making and applying these decisions to prevent mortality and morbidity. Dermatologic emergencies may primarily occur in association with skin-involved diseases, and underlying systemic diseases or infections, as well. Dermatologic emergencies are uncommon than other branches of medicine; however, it involves the cases of potentially life-threatening, having high mortality rate, negatively effecting the quality of life on highest degrees, and requiring hospitalization or intensive care units, if possible, to give a convenient medical treatment immediately. 

The diseases causing mortality and morbidity, such as Urticaria-angioedema, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, toxic shock syndrome, erythroderma, pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP), autoimmune bullous diseases, acute graft versus host disease, scalded skin syndrome and necrotizing cellulitis, are known as dermatologic emergencies. Determining the dermatologic emergencies and providing an immediate medical response decreases the incidence of mortality and morbidity, and they are important to prevent unnecessary examinations, treatment, money and time loss for the consultation of conditions even they are not real dermatologic emergencies. 

We examined the dermatologic emergencies under the titles of etiopathogenesis, clinics, differential diagnosis and treatment, and we edited practical approaches for dermatology and non-dermatology physicians.