Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36874676›Full record

ArticleCureus2023

Community-Acquired Skin and Soft Tissue Infections: Epidemiology and Management in Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department of a Tertiary Care Hospital.

Qaidar Alizai, Abdul Haseeb, Sana Hamayun, Shandana Khan, Fawad Ali, Munayal Roghani, Muhammad Awais Khan, Farhan Ullah, Waseem Khan, Nadeem Ijaz

Open access · diamondAbstract read
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Article in Cureus, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Qaidar AlizaiDepartment of Surgery, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Peshawar, PAK.
Abdul HaseebDepartment of Surgery, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Peshawar, PAK.
Sana HamayunDepartment of Surgery, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Peshawar, PAK.
Shandana KhanDepartment of Surgery, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Peshawar, PAK.
Fawad AliDepartment of Surgery, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Peshawar, PAK.
Munayal RoghaniDepartment of Surgery, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Peshawar, PAK.
Muhammad Awais KhanDepartment of Surgery, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Peshawar, PAK.
Farhan UllahDepartment of Medicine, Khyber Teaching Hospital Medical Teaching Institute (MTI), Peshawar, PAK.
Waseem KhanDepartment of Surgery, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Peshawar, PAK.
Nadeem IjazDepartment of Surgery, Khyber Teaching Hospital Medical Teaching Institute (MTI), Peshawar, PAK.
Hayatabad Medical Complex · PKKhyber Teaching Hospital · PK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSkin and soft tissue infections are one of the most common diseases presenting to the emergency department (ED). There is no study available on the management of Community-Acquired Skin and Soft Tissue Infections (CA-SSTIs) in our population recently. This study aims to describe the frequency and distribution of CA-SSTIs as well as their medical and surgical management among patients presenting to our ED.

methodsWe conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study on patients presenting with CA-SSTIs to the ED of a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan. The primary objective was to estimate the frequency of common CA-SSTIs presenting to the ED and to assess the management of these infections in terms of diagnostic workup and treatment modalities used. The secondary objectives were to study the association of different baseline variables, diagnostic modalities, treatment modalities, and improvement with the surgical procedure performance for these infections. Descriptive statistics were obtained for quantitative variables like age. Frequencies and percentages were derived for categorical variables. The chi-square test was used to compare different CA-SSTIs in terms of categorical variables like diagnostic and treatment modalities. We divided the data into two groups based on the surgical procedure. A chi-square analysis was conducted to compare these two groups in terms of categorical variables.

resultsOut of the 241 patients, 51.9% were males and the mean age was 34.2 years. The most common CA-SSTIs were abscesses, infected ulcers, and cellulitis. Antibiotics were prescribed to 84.2% of patients. Amoxicillin + Clavulanate was the most frequently prescribed antibiotic. Out of the total, 128 (53.11%) patients received some type of surgical intervention. Surgical procedures were significantly associated with diabetes mellitus, heart disease, limitation of mobility, or recent antibiotic use. There was a significantly higher rate of prescription of any antibiotic and anti-methicillin-resistant

conclusionThis study shows a higher frequency of purulent infections in our ED. Antibiotics were prescribed more frequently for all infections. Surgical procedures like incision and drainage were much lower even in purulent infections. Furthermore, beta-lactam antibiotics like Amoxicillin-Clavulanate were commonly prescribed. Linezolid was the only systemic anti-MRSA agent prescribed. We suggest physicians should prescribe antibiotics appropriate to the local antibiograms and the latest guidelines.

Indexed as

anti-bacterial agentsemergency managementemergency medical serviceskin infectionssoft tissue infections

Identifiers

PMID36874676
PMCPMC9977200
OpenAlexW4318480411

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.