Updated anaphylaxis guidelines: management in infants and children

Katie Frith; Jill Smith; Preeti Joshi; Lara S Ford; Sandra Vale

doi:10.18773/austprescr.2021.016

Updated anaphylaxis guidelines: management in infants and children

Aust Prescr. 2021 Jun;44(3):91-95. doi: 10.18773/austprescr.2021.016. Epub 2021 Jun 1.

Authors

Katie Frith^{1

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6}, Jill Smith^{1

2

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4

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6}, Preeti Joshi^{1

2

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6}, Lara S Ford^{1

2

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4

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6}, Sandra Vale^{1

2

3

4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Sydney.
² Sydney Children's Hospital.
³ School of Women's and Children's Health, UNSW Sydney.
⁴ The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney.
⁵ Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney School of Medicine.
⁶ National Allergy Strategy, Sydney.

Abstract

Severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) are unpredictable, and initial signs of what could be fatal anaphylaxis can be mild Adrenaline (epinephrine) remains the first-line drug of choice for the acute management of anaphylaxis and should be administered early There are no contraindications to intramuscular adrenaline in the treatment of anaphylaxis Correct positioning of the patient is vital as death can occur within minutes if a patient stands, walks or sits up suddenly. Position the patient correctly first and then promptly administer intramuscular adrenaline Updated guidelines by the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy now recommend that the 0.15 mg adrenaline injector device may be prescribed for infants and children weighing 7.5-10 kg. The recommendation to use the 0.3 mg adrenaline injector device for those over 20 kg remains unchanged The adrenaline doses in Australian Prescriber's anaphylaxis wallchart remain valid.

Keywords: adrenaline (epinephrine); adrenaline (epinephrine) injector device; allergy; anaphylaxis.

(c) NPS MedicineWise.

Publication types

Review