Clinical guidelines
The Academy is dedicated to promoting and encouraging dermatology research and the application of these findings to improving patient care. This includes the development of rigorous, evidence-based guidelines of care for dermatologic conditions. Learn more about the guideline development process.
Review current clinical guidelines, those in development, and guidelines that the AAD has collaborated on below.
Actinic keratosis
This guideline addresses the management of actinic keratosis, providing evidence-based recommendations for treatment.
Go to guidelineCurrent Academy guidelines
This guideline addresses the management of adolescent and adult patients who present with acne vulgaris.
This guideline addresses the management of actinic keratosis, providing evidence-based recommendations for treatment.
The guideline provides recommendations on the diagnosis, assessment, safety, and efficacy of treatments for AD.
These guidelines provide recommendations for the treatment, follow-up, and prevention of BCC.
These guidelines provide recommendations for the treatment, follow-up, and prevention of SCC.
These guidelines address the approaches for the surgical and medical treatment of primary cutaneous melanoma.
This guideline addresses the clinical use and safety of local anesthetics commonly used in office-based dermatologic surgery.
The guideline provides treatment recommendations and the role of the dermatologist in monitoring and educating patients.
This guidelines addresses reconstruction after skin cancer resection.
Update to the guidelines of care for the management of atopic dermatitis. Expected in the first quarter of 2026.
Update to the joint AAD-NPF guidelines of care for the management of psoriasis biologics and non-biologics. Expected in the third quarter of 2025.
Update to the guidelines of care for management of melanoma. Expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Release of the guidelines of care for the management of hidradenitis suppurativa. Expected in the first quarter of 2026.
Joint ACR, AAD, RDS, and AAO Statement on Hydroxychloroquine Use with Respect to Retinal Toxicity
Read the joint statement.
The International EAACI/GA²LEN/EuroGuiDerm/APAAACI Guideline for the Definition, Classification, Diagnosis and Management of Urticaria. An updated version of the international urticaria guideline published in 2018.
Read the guideline in the European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy in the United States: Report of the NIAID-Sponsored Expert Panel
Accepted: 2010 (Read in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology)
Addendum to NIAID guidelines for prevention of peanut allergy: January 2017
Clinical Practice Guideline: Reconstruction After Skin Cancer Resection
"...focuses on the process of surgical reconstruction after skin cancer resection. The guideline is a joint effort of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS), the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF), the American College of Mohs Surgery (ACMS), the American Society for Mohs Surgery (ASMS), and the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS)."
Published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology in the second quarter of 2021.