Pediatric anaphylaxis at a university hospital including the rate of prescribing epinephrine auto-injectors

Purpose: Anaphylaxis is an acute, life-threatening systemic reaction which should be treated by epinephrine, and patients should be prescribed epinephrine auto-injector after the event. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical features of pediatric anaphylaxis, including the rate of using epinephrine at hospital and prescribing epinephrine auto-injector. Methods: We performed a retrospective study of 68 anaphylactic patients at in-hospital, out-hospital, and Emergency Department of Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Korea, who were under 15 years of age, from January 2013 through December 2014. We reviewed their clinical features, doctor`s treatment methods, rate of follow-up and prescribing epinephrine auto-injectors. Results: Causes of anaphylaxis were food (76.5%), drug (10.3%), and idiopathic (13.2%). The involved organs were the skin (86.8%), respiratory tract (80.9%), cardiovascular system (23.5%), and gastrointestinal tract (17.7%). Patients were treated with systemic steroids (91.2%), antihistamines (88.2%), and epinephrine (75.0%). Fifty-three patients (77.9%) revisited our pediatric allergy clinic and epinephrine auto-injectors were prescribed for 25 patients (36.8%). Conclusion: Physicians should make an effort to use epinephrine as an initial treatment of anaphylaxis, to prescribe epinephrine auto-injectors, and to give proper information about disease. (Allergy Asthma Respir Dis 2017:5:135-140)