268 Epidemiology of Anaphylaxis in Adults Treated in the Emergency Department, of the University Hospital of Monterrey n.l Mexico, During 2005–2010

Abstract

BackgroundThe risk of anaphylaxis ranges from 0.2 to 0.7%. The objective of this study was to describe the causes, clinical features and complications of patients with anaphylaxis treated in the emergency department of our hospital.Materials and MethodsA prospective, observational and descriptive survey was conducted for assessing adult patients with a diagnosis of anaphylaxis from March 2005 to 2010. Information was obtained from the medical records and from a questionnaire was that completed for the patients and a relative. The information included, triggers, demographics, allergy history and clinical characteristics of the current episode. All the cases were followed to their outcome.ResultsWe documented 45 cases of anaphylaxis. 26 patients (58%) were male. The most common causes of anaphylaxis were: drug (49%) food (20%) and poison hymenoptera venom (16%). The most common clinical signs ando symptoms included: dyspnea (69%), nausea (58%) and hypotension (56%). 44% of patients came to emergency departments in the course of 30 minutes after onset of symptoms while the 29% took 30 minutes to 1 hour and 27% more than 1 hour. Among the associated diseases, hypertension was 13% and rhinitis (11%). In 85% of the cases, patients remained under observation for 3 to 12 hours were the most frequent discharged. 7 patients were hospitalized and 4 sent to intensive care later were discharged without complications.ConclusionsAnaphylaxis is not uncommon in our environment. Drugs are the most common cause as reported in the literature. The most frequent clinical manifestations are respiratory and gastrointestinal.