Atopic dermatitis and skin infections are a poorly documented crisis in Canada's Indigenous pediatric population: It's time to start the conversation.

Canadian Indigenous youth continue to face higher rates of health disparities than their non-Indigenous counterparts. In dermatology, this includes a high burden of atopic dermatitis, as well as secondary skin and soft tissue infections. Unfortunately, numerous barriers to treatment exist, including systemic and institutional racism, poverty, crowded housing conditions on reserves, access and cost of basic skin care regimens, and clean water access. As per the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canadian dermatologists have been called upon to train more First Nations, Metis, and Inuit physicians to ensure we are providing high-quality, anti-racist, culturally appropriate care to Indigenous peoples.

Exploring changes in placebo treatment arms in hidradenitis suppurativa randomized clinical trials: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is characterized by recurrent, painful nodules in flexural areas. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore the placebo response in HS randomized clinical trials and to compare it briefly with the placebo response in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. METHODS: A Cochrane Review on interventions in HS was used as a starting point, and a systematic review was then undertaken by using the PubMed database, yielding 7 HS randomized clinical trials for inclusion in this study. RESULTS: This review demonstrates that there is a robust placebo response in HS that is most marked in physical signs but also marked in pain responses. LIMITATIONS: Multiple outcome measures utilized in these studies and reporting bias limited this review. CONCLUSION: This large placebo response has implications for clinical trial design. This knowledge can also help deliver improved clinical care by forming the basis of nonpharmacologic treatments and help optimize current medication use to maximize the placebo effect.

Communication with patients' families in the intensive care unit: A point prevalence study.

PURPOSE: We aimed to describe point of care communication encounters with patients' families in centers with open visitation practices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional one-day point prevalence study in 14 Canadian adult intensive care units (ICUs) located in 7 academic and 7 community hospitals with open family visitation policies. RESULTS: ICU bedside nurses working on a randomly selected weekday completed a survey reporting all observed communication between providers and patients' families. Family point of care communication encounters were measured for 146 of 159 patients (92%) admitted to the study ICUs. Most patients had family (98%) with the majority observed visiting on the study date (73%). Of patients with family (n = 143), direct in-person communication occurred 71% of the time, either via participation in rounds (23%), family meetings (24%), and/or informal updates (71%). 43% (n = 62) of families had direct communication with a physician or nurse practitioner. Nurses provided the largest portion of informal bedside updates (83%, n = 85) and supplemented family communication with phone calls (22%, n = 31). There was no communication contact for 13% (n = 19) of families. CONCLUSIONS: ICUs adopt multiple ways of communicating with family members of critically ill patients. Significant interactions occur outside of traditional family meetings, in a less formal and more frequent fashion. Our study supports development of tools to support best practices within contemporary communication paradigms to support provider, patients and family needs.

The Role of IL-17 in Papulopustular Rosacea and Future Directions.

Rosacea is a chronic, progressive, inflammatory condition phenotypically subtyped into diagnostic features, major features, and minor/secondary features. There is currently no cure for rosacea, and it carries a significant negative psychosocial burden for afflicted patients. While there are a number of treatment modalities at the disposal of the clinician, clinical experience has suggested a need for updated treatments. The pathogenesis of rosacea is multifactorial; however, this paper will focus on the pivotal role of interleukin 17 (IL-17) in the development and progression of the disease. Furthermore, this paper will explore the mechanism of action of standard rosacea treatments and their effect on different stages of the IL-17 pathway. The standard treatments for rosacea are usually effective in controlling the symptoms of the disease in its mild-to-moderate form; however, their efficacy is diminished in the setting of severe and treatment-resistant rosacea. We hypothesize that IL-17 inhibitors, currently used successfully in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, could perhaps be used to treat severe and treatment-resistant papulopustular rosacea in the future; however, clinical trials and case reports will be needed to dictate expanded indications of IL-17 inhibitors. Furthermore, the high cost of IL-17 inhibitors presently prevents their use in disease states other than psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis.