Clinico-Epidemiological Study of Cutaneous Adverse Drug Reactions: A Hospital-Based Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND Cutaneous drug reactions are the most common adverse reactions attributed to drugs. They often mimic or cause common cutaneous reaction patterns such as bullous disorders, lichen planus, psoriasis, eczema etc., METHODS It was a hospital based cross sectional study including 140 clinically diagnosed cases of Cutaneous Adverse Drug Reaction (CADR). Demographic details, clinical patterns, types of drugs and causality assessment were studied in each one of them. RESULTS Most common age group to have CADR was 21-40 years. The male to female ratio was 2.25:1. Fixed Drug Eruption including the bullous variant was the commonest, seen in 45.71% patients and followed by maculopapular rash in 17.14% and Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) in 11.42%. The commonest offending group of drug as a whole was Antimicrobials (54.3%) followed by Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) (37.85%) and Antiepileptics (5.71%). CONCLUSIONS CADR commonly presents as Fixed Drug Eruption or maculopapular lesions and commonly implicated drugs are Antimicrobials, NSAIDs and Anti-Epileptics.