The Photosensitive Patient

Miller, Richard DO
Perkins, Jessie DO
Crittenden, Kylee DO
Gray, Bryan DO
Croft, Sarah DO
Solomon, Glen D. MD

Richard Miller, DO, FAOCD, Dermatology Program Director, Largo Medical Center, Largo, FL.
Jessie Perkins, DO, Largo Medical Center, Largo, FL.
Kylee Crittenden, DO, OhioHealth O'Bleness Hospital, Athens, OH.
Bryan Gray, DO, OhioHealth O'Bleness Hospital, Athens, OH.
Sarah Croft, DO, ScM, Largo Medical Center, Largo, FL.
Glen D. Solomon, MD, FACP, Professor and Chair, Department of Internal Medicine, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, OH.

Emergency Medicine Reports 35(25):p 293-302, November 30, 2014.

Why do patients with rashes come to the emergency department? I have asked myself this many times. Perhaps you have, too. For an acute rash that is especially itchy and keeps the patient from sleeping, relief is what the patient is seeking. That I understand. But for those rashes present for days to weeks, what makes it an emergency now? Those working the front lines know the answer: Many of our emergency department patients don't have a provider who can see them urgently, so they come to see us.

This issue discusses patients with photosensitive skin eruptions. This topic can be complex and confusing. Fortunately, principles useful for emergency physicians are simple: 1) recognize the rash is confined to sun-exposed areas; 2) know that drugs, underlying diseases, or genetic inheritance can make the patient photosensitive; and 3) begin initial treatment with medications to control symptoms.

—J. Stephan Stapczynski, MD, Editor