Journal Information
Vol. 110. Issue 8.
Pages 623-624 (October 2019)
Vol. 110. Issue 8.
Pages 623-624 (October 2019)
Commentary
Full text access
Benign Lesions Referred to Dermatology
Lesiones benignas en la consulta del dermatólogo
Visits
3925
L. Ferrándiz
Unidad de Gestión Clínica de Dermatología, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, Spain
This item has received
Article information
Full Text
Bibliography
Download PDF
Statistics
Full Text

The societal impact of primary and secondary skin cancer prevention campaigns continues to increase. Alert to the dangers of excessive sun exposure and its role as a risk factor for skin cancer, the population has also gradually come to understand the importance of early diagnosis. Greater awareness among the general population and primary care physicians has increased the number of referrals to dermatology.

Data from the DIADERM registry1 show that about 32% of referrals from primary care to dermatology in the Spanish public health care system cite a benign skin lesion as the main problem2 and such referrals may therefore be avoidable.

This observation is of major interest for planning the delivery of care by dermatology services, whose managers must ensure that potentially serious dermatologic problems do not compete for attention with benign conditions that pose no health risk to patients. For this reason dermatology services should direct their efforts not so much to “avoiding” consultations for benign conditions but rather to providing ways to guarantee that any patient with such lesions or conditions can access a dermatologist's opinion without having a negative impact on the early treatment of serious skin diseases.

Appropriate training of the family practitioners and pediatricians at the primary care level and the implementation of teledermatology referrals3 are approaches that help dermatology services deliver appropriate care to resolve each patient's true needs.

References
[1]
C. González -Cruz, M.A. Descalzo, S. Arias-Santiago, A. Molina-Leyva, Y. Gilaberte, E. Fernández-Crehuet, et al.
Análisis de la proporción de derivaciones potencialmente evitables desde atención primaria a dermatología por lesiones quísticas o tumorales benignas en España. Datos del estudio DIADERM.
Actas Dermosifiliogr., (2019),
[2]
D. Moreno-Ramírez, R. Ruiz-Villaverde, M. de Troya, V. Reyes-Alcázar, M. Alcalde, M. Galán, et al.
Proceso de atención a las personas con lesiones quísticas y tumorales benignas. Documento de consenso de la sección territorial andaluza de la Academia Española de Dermatología Médico-Quirúrgica y Venereología.
Actas Dermosifiliogr., 107 (2016), pp. 391-399
[3]
D. Moreno-Ramírez, L. Ferrándiz.
A 10-year history of teledermatology for skin cancer management.
JAMA Dermatol., 151 (2015), pp. 1289-1290

Please cite this article as: Ferrándiz L. Lesiones benignas en la consulta del dermatólogo Actas Dermosifiliogr. 2019;110:623–624.

Download PDF
Idiomas
Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas
Article options
Tools
es en

¿Es usted profesional sanitario apto para prescribir o dispensar medicamentos?

Are you a health professional able to prescribe or dispense drugs?