Summary Statement 46

Summary Statement 46: Use epinephrine as first-line management for the treatment of anaphylaxis.

Patient take away points:

Anaphylaxis is a severe whole body reaction to an allergen. Anaphylaxis can occur during an IgE-mediated food allergy reaction. In some situations, patients may experience severe swelling and difficulty breathing. Epinephrine should be the first medication given, before antihistamines. Epinephrine is available in a self-injectable device and is administered into the thigh muscle. This can be life-saving and should be used as early as possible. It is important to recognize that anaphylaxis look different in different people. A child with hives and vomiting after food would constitute anaphylaxis. An adult who loses consciousness due to a blood pressure drop after a bee sting is also anaphylaxis. In both of these cases, epinephrine would be the first line management.