Contact dermatitis in a spinal injuries centre

A routine patch testing survey carried out on 122 patients in the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital showed that 40.1% of the patients studied gave positive patch test results to medicaments and other topical applications. The incidence of positive results was higher in patients with a history of pressure sores (45.1%) than in those who had never had sores (33.3%). The significance of these results is discussed.