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- Title
ADRENALINE INFUSION IS FREQUENTLY REQUIRED FOR THE TREATMENT OF HYPERSENSITIVITY REACTIONS IN THE EMERGENCY SETTING.
- Authors
KARELLAS, Ioannis; TSAKALAKIS, Christos; SOURLAS, Sotirios
- Abstract
AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effi cacy of standard treatment, the need of additional adrenaline use and the outcome of hypersensitivity reactions in the emergency department. MATERIAL - METHOD: In a prospective study, we randomly selected 6 days a month in a 6 month period and we studied 118 patients with acute onset of allergic reactions (minutes to several hours, 5% of the totally examined patients). All patients were presented with skin or mucosal involvement. Clinical evaluation revealed mild to moderate bronchoconstriction in 17 patients (15%) and low systolic arterial pressure (<90mmHg) in 5 patients (4%). All patients received a standard initial intravenous treatment with 250mg methylprednisolone, 4mg dimetindene, 50 mg ranitidine and 1000 ml normal saline in 60 min. The patients that were fi nally discharged received a per os combination of H1 and H2 antihistamines. RESULTS: Full remission of symptoms was documented in 75 patients (64%) after the initial therapy. Inhaled bronchodilators were administered in all patients with bronchoconstriction. Adrenaline (1:10000, 1ml increments) had to be used intravenously in 8 patients (7%) with rapid improvement. They all complained of headache, tremor and palpitations. Finally, 12 patients (10%) were admitted to the hospital. Relapsing of symptoms occurred in 25 (23%) of the discharged patients. CONCLUSIONS: Aggressive treatment with adrenaline is often needed for the treatment of hypersensitivity reactions in the emergency setting. All medical practitioners involved in emergency care must be familiar with the use of adrenaline as it is impressively effective in reversing life-threatening hypersensitivity complications.
- Publication
Balkan Military Medical Review, 2014, Vol 17, p37
- ISSN
1107-6275
- Publication type
Article