Background: Infantile haemangiomas (IH) are common vascular tumours of infancy that can have significant complications. The IH European Task Force developed the IH Referral Score (IHReS) to help non-specialists quickly identify IH that need to be referred to optimise outcomes in high-risk lesions.
Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the quality of IH referrals to a national care centre and compare the IH referred to the IHReS tool.
Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study that collected data from a random sample of 56 IH patients over a 13-month period.
Results: Less than 10% included a photograph (8.93%) and a minority of referrals included if there were complications including ulceration (1.79%) or function threatening (8.93%). Three-quarters of patients satisfied the IHReS criteria.
Conclusion: The IHReS screening tool is a convenient and efficient resource for non-experts to identify children who require referral to a specialist centre.
Keywords: Dermatology; Hospital referral; Infantile haemangioma; Primary care; Secondary care.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.