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REVIEW ARTICLE

Management of anaphylaxis: a systematic review


S. Dhami1, S. S. Panesar 2, G. Roberts3,4,5, A. Muraro6, M. Worm7, M. B. Bilo  8, V. Cardona9,
A. E. J. Dubois , A. DunnGalvin , P. Eigenmann , M. Fernandez-Rivas , S. Halken14, G. Lack15,16,
10 11 12 13

B. Niggemann17, F. Rueff18, A. F. Santos15,16,19, B. Vlieg-Boerstra20, Z. Q. Zolkipli3,4 & A. Sheikh2,21


on behalf of the EAACI Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Guidelines Group*
1
Evidence-Based Health Care Ltd, Edinburgh; 2Allergy & Respiratory Research Group, Centre for Population Health Sciences, The University of
Edinburgh, Edinburgh; 3David Hide Asthma and Allergy Research Centre, St Mary’s Hospital, Newport, Isle of Wight; 4NIHR Southampton
Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton;
5
Human Development and Health Academic Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK; 6Padua General
, Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Charite
University Hospital, Padua, Italy; 7Allergy-Center-Charite  – Universit€
atsmedizin, Berlin,
Germany; 8University Hospital Ospedali Riuniti, Ancona, Italy; 9Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain; 10Department of Paediatrics, Division
of Paediatric Pulmonology and Paediatric Allergy, and GRIAC Research Institute University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen,
Groningen, the Netherlands; 11Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University College, Cork, Ireland; 12Children’s Hospital, Geneva,
Switzerland; 13Allergy Department, Hospital Clinico San Carlos, IdISSC, Madrid, Spain; 14Hans Christian Andersen Children’s Hospital,
Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark; 15Department of Pediatric Allergy, Division of Asthma, Allergy & Lung Biology, King’s College
London, London; 16King’s Health Partners, MRC & Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, King’s College London, London,
UK; 17Allergy Center Charite, University Hospital Charite
, Berlin, Germany; 18Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Ludwig-Maximilian
University, Munich, Germany; 19Immunoallergology Department, Coimbra University Hospital, Coimbra, Portugal; 20Department of Pediatric
Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Emma Children’s Hospital, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;
21
Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

 MB, Cardona V, Dubois AEJ, DunnGalvin A, Eigenmann P, Fernandez-Rivas M,


To cite this article: Dhami S, Panesar SS, Roberts G, Muraro A, Worm M, Bilo
Halken S, Lack G, Niggemann B, Rueff F, Santos AF, Vlieg-Boerstra B, Zolkipli ZQ & Sheikh A on behalf of the EAACI Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Guidelines
Group. Management of anaphylaxis: a systematic review. Allergy 2014; 69: 168–175.

Keywords Abstract
adrenaline; anaphylaxis; antihistamines;
emergency management plans;
To establish the effectiveness of interventions for the acute and long-term man-
immunotherapy. agement of anaphylaxis, seven databases were searched for systematic reviews,
randomized controlled trials, quasi-randomized controlled trials, controlled clini-
Correspondence cal trials, controlled before–after studies and interrupted time series and – only in
Professor Aziz Sheikh, Allergy & Respiratory relation to adrenaline – case series investigating the effectiveness of interventions
Research Group, Centre for Population in managing anaphylaxis. Fifty-five studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. We
Health Sciences, The University of
found no robust studies investigating the effectiveness of adrenaline (epinephrine),
Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK.
H1-antihistamines, systemic glucocorticosteroids or methylxanthines to manage
Tel.: +44 (0)131 651 4151
Fax: +44 (0)131 650 9119
anaphylaxis. There was evidence regarding the optimum route, site and dose of
E-mail: aziz.sheikh@ed.ac.uk administration of adrenaline from trials studying people with a history of anaphy-
laxis. This suggested that administration of intramuscular adrenaline into the
*C. A. Akdis, A. Bellou, C. Bindslev-Jensen, middle of vastus lateralis muscle is the optimum treatment. Furthermore, fatality
K. Brockow, A. Clark, P. Demoly, L. Harada, register studies have suggested that a failure or delay in administration of adrena-
M. Jutel, N. Papadopoulos, line may increase the risk of death. The main long-term management interven-
K. Hoffman-Sommergruber, L. Poulsen,
tions studied were anaphylaxis management plans and allergen-specific
F. Timmermans, R. Van Ree.
immunotherapy. Management plans may reduce the risk of further reactions, but
Accepted for publication 8 October 2013 these studies were at high risk of bias. Venom immunotherapy may reduce
the incidence of systemic reactions in those with a history of venom-triggered
DOI:10.1111/all.12318 anaphylaxis.
Edited by: Werner Aberer

Correction added on 17 January 2014, after


first online publication: spelling of author
Niggemann and initials of author Santos
corrected.

168 Allergy 69 (2014) 168–175 © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Dhami et al. Managing anaphylaxis

Anaphylaxis can be defined as a ‘severe, life-threatening gen- Standard methods for performing systematic reviews were
eralized or systemic hypersensitivity reaction’ (1, 2). Several used. A descriptive summary with data tables was produced to
working definitions of anaphylaxis have been formulated to summarize the literature. Quality assessments of studies were
aid clinical diagnosis and management (3–6). The most well undertaken using appropriate tools (see online supplement).
known of these is the consensus clinical definition proposed We preferentially extracted data on risk ratios and mean dif-
by Sampson et al., which involved representatives of a num- ferences. Because data were not suitable for meta-analysis
ber of international allergy organizations, including the Euro- (11), a narrative synthesis of the data was undertaken.
pean Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Further details can be found in the online Supporting
(EAACI) (7). Information.
Care of patients with anaphylaxis involves consideration of
both the acute, emergency treatment of reactions and long-
Results
term care, which aims to reduce the risk of further reactions
and improve outcomes if, despite these measures, a further The searches identified a total of 8929 potentially eligible
reaction ensues (8). It remains very difficult to predict the studies, of which 55 satisfied our eligibility criteria and were
severity of a reaction and, in fatal episodes, death may occur therefore included in this review (Fig. 2). The key character-
within minutes of an anaphylactic reaction, these observa- istics and main findings of all included studies are detailed in
tions underscoring the importance of effective, emergency Table S1, and the quality assessment of these studies is sum-
management. marized in Tables S2 (systematic reviews) and S3 (primary
EAACI is in the process of developing the EAACI Guidelines studies). The main findings are further discussed below.
for Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis, and this systematic review is
one of seven interlinked evidence syntheses that were under-
taken in order to provide a state-of-the-art synopsis of the cur- Acute management of anaphylaxis
rent evidence base in relation to epidemiology, prevention,
Adrenaline
diagnosis and clinical management, and impact on quality of
life, which were used to inform clinical recommendations. We identified 15 studies: four systematic reviews (12–15)
(including one update), four RCTs (16–19), two case series
(20, 21) and five fatality register-based reports (22–26)
Aims
(including two updates) on the effectiveness of adrenaline.
The aims of this systematic review were to assess the effec-
tiveness of (i) interventions for the acute management of ana- Effectiveness and timing
phylaxis and (ii) pharmacological and nonpharmacological Three well-conducted systematic reviews (19–21) that looked
approaches for the long-term management of anaphylaxis. at the use of adrenaline for the treatment of anaphylaxis and
adrenaline auto-injectors found no RCTs or quasi-RCTs.
Weaker evidence from a case series of 27 patients receiving
Methods
emergency prehospital treatment found that prompt use of
Details of the methodology for the identification, selection adrenaline may reduce the risk of fatality (26). The second
and inclusion of the studies have been previously reported case series found that a fifth of children experiencing anaphy-
(9, 10). In summary, our inclusion criteria were systematic laxis needed more than one dose of adrenaline; healthcare
reviews with or without meta-analyses, randomized controlled professionals administered this second dose in 94% of cases.
trials (RCTs), quasi-RCTs, controlled clinical trials (CCTs), The five fatality register-based reports (12–16) provided
controlled before–after (CBA) designs, interrupted time series important insights into the difficulties of predicting the sever-
(ITS) studies and case series, with a minimum of 10 patients, ity of subsequent reactions, risk factors for fatality, co-exist-
for studies investigating the use of adrenaline (Fig. 1). ing asthma and the under-issuing, poor carriage, under-use,

Condition Interventions Outcomes Study designs

• Outcomes:
• Anaphylaxis • Acute managment • Effectiveness of • Systematic reviews
• Long-term pharmacological +/– meta-analyses
management and non- • Randomzed
considerations pharmacologial controlled trials
interventions for • Quazi-RCTs
the above
• Controlled clinical
trials
• Controlled before-
after designs
• Interrupted time
series studies

Figure 1 Conceptualisation of systematic review of interventions for the acute and long-term management of anaphylaxis.

Allergy 69 (2014) 168–175 © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd 169
Managing anaphylaxis Dhami et al.

tified no suitable RCTs or quasi-RCTs. Two RCTs that


Records identified through Additional records identified
database searching through other sources investigated the use of H1- and H2-antihistamines in acute
(n = 8881) (n = 48) allergic reactions (only a small proportion had anaphylaxis)
(31, 32) revealed that the combination of H1- and H2-anti-
histamines was superior to H1-antihistamines alone in treat-
Duplicates removed ing urticaria, but not angioedema; the second showed that
(n = 165) pruritus was better controlled by H1-antihistamines than by
H2-antihistamines and that combined treatment offered no
advantage.
Records screened
(n = 8764) Methylxanthines
Records excluded We found one systematic review investigating the effective-
(n = 8597) ness of methylxanthines in the acute management of anaphy-
Full-text articles assessed for laxis; this found no trials in humans (33).
eligibility
(n = 167)

Full-text articles Long-term management of anaphylaxis


excluded (n = 112)

Not relevant (n = 51) Anaphylaxis management plans


Studies included in narrative design (n = 61)
We identified two systematic reviews investigating anaphy-
synthesis
(n = 55)
laxis management plans (34, 35). The first found no evi-
dence from RCTs or quasi-RCTs investigating the clinical
effectiveness of anaphylaxis management plans for the pre-
Figure 2 PRISMA diagram for searches on the acute and long-
vention of recurrences or improvement in outcomes from
term management of anaphylaxis.
anaphylaxis. The second systematic review had a wider
focus including qualitative, epidemiological and experimen-
delayed use and incorrect use of adrenaline auto-injectors. tal studies undertaken with or without a control group.
These reports revealed that fatalities can occur, even if adren- This demonstrated that there were no universally accepted
aline is used correctly. anaphylaxis management plans. It, however, identified four
studies, which suggested that anaphylaxis management
Site and route of delivery plans may substantially reduce the risk of future, severe
Two RCTs (22, 24) found that, in both children and adults, reactions.
maximal plasma concentration occurs quicker with the intra-
muscular than with subcutaneous route. The latter trial in
Venom immunotherapy (VIT)
adults also concluded that the optimum site of injection was
the vastus lateralis muscle. A systematic review of poor qual- We found three systematic reviews and meta-analyses (36–38)
ity found that the use of subcutaneous adrenaline was not and one further systematic review without a meta-analysis
contraindicated in patients older than 35 years without a his- (39) investigating the effectiveness of VIT. These four system-
tory of coronary artery disease (17). atic reviews included a total of 23 unique studies of varying
quality. Twelve of these studied patients with a history of
Dose in children anaphylaxis using eligible study designs and have therefore
One RCT compared the effectiveness of the previous designs also individually been assessed (see Tables S1 and S3)
of the Epipen Junior and Epipen in children weighing (40–51).
15–30 kgs. The authors concluded that children should be The high-quality systematic review by Boyle et al. identi-
prescribed the 0.3 mg Epipen from 30 kgs (17). fied six RCTs and 1 quasi-RCT (392 participants). Five stud-
ies involved subcutaneous immunotherapy and one
sublingual immunotherapy. Patients treated with VIT had
Glucocorticosteroids
less systemic allergic reactions (RR = 0.10, 95% CI
Two systematic reviews investigating the use of glucocorticos- 0.03–0.28) and better quality of life (mean difference = 1.21
teroids in the acute management of anaphylaxis (27, 28) points on a 7-point scale (95% CI 0.75–1.67)). Subcutaneous
failed to identify any RCTs or quasi-RCTs and so were VIT-treated patients had more systemic adverse reactions
unable to make any recommendations. (RR = 8.16, 95% CI 1.53–43.46). One systematic review of
low quality showed that VIT was effective in reducing the
risk of further systemic reactions (49).
Antihistamines
The systematic review by Hockenhull et al. (39) investi-
Two systematic reviews investigating the use of H1-antihista- gated the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a specific
mines in the acute management of anaphylaxis (29, 30) iden- VIT subcutaneous preparation (Pharmalgen, ALK-Abello,

170 Allergy 69 (2014) 168–175 © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Dhami et al. Managing anaphylaxis

Reading, UK) and included nine trials (four RCTs and five for the emergency management of anaphylaxis was in rela-
quasi-RCTs), all judged to be of poor quality. They mod- tion to adrenaline, but these trials have been undertaken in
elled cost-effectiveness showing a cost of £8–20 (€10–25) patients who were at the time not experiencing anaphylaxis
million/life year gained, assuming a base-case scenario of (22–25). Taken together with the methodologically lower-
no improvement in quality of life. A sensitivity analysis quality evidence from case series and fatality registers, there
showed that VIT was more cost-effective in those at high is some evidence to support the use of adrenaline for the
risk of further stings or if improvements in quality of life emergency management of anaphylaxis. The evidence points
and anxiety associated with VIT were included in the to the importance of injecting this by the intramuscular route
model. into the anterolateral aspect of the thigh. In relation to
longer-term management considerations, anaphylaxis man-
agement plans may be effective in reducing the risk of recur-
Educational interventions
rence. VIT reduces the severity of reactions to subsequent
A quasi-experimental trial evaluated whether an educational stings and improves quality of life, and concerns around
intervention could improve compliance with carrying an in- cost-effectiveness remain.
date adrenaline auto-injector in high school children with
food allergy (52). The intervention failed to demonstrate any
Acute management of anaphylaxis
significant difference in carriage rates in the intervention and
control groups. Case fatality register studies have demonstrated that deaths
can occur within minutes of the onset of a reaction and have
highlighted how difficult it is to predict the severity of reac-
Psychological interventions
tions (12). It is therefore consistently advocated by guidelines
One systematic review of low quality investigated the man- that all reactions are promptly managed by initiating a range
agement of anxiety related to children with a history of ana- of pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions.
phylaxis (53). It concluded that anaphylaxis can place a This review failed to identify any high-quality studies investi-
substantial psychological burden on children, adolescents and gating the role of nonpharmacological interventions such as
carers and that dealing with this anxiety may improve out- the role of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and posture. In
comes. contrast, we found some evidence investigating the role of
adrenaline – the main drug treatment advocated in guide-
lines. This evidence was derived from case series, fatality reg-
Prophylactic interventions
isters and a limited number of trials in people not
Interventions have been studied to prevent anaphylaxis. A experiencing anaphylactic reactions. Overall, this body of evi-
major limiting factor with these studies is the fact that the dence was weak, but pointed to the importance of the early
groups studied were not known to be at high risk of anaphy- administration of adrenaline, in an appropriate dose, admin-
laxis. istered by the intramuscular route into the anterolateral
aspect of the thigh. Given the considerable ethical and logis-
Adrenaline admixture with snakebite antivenom tical challenges in undertaking trials of parenteral adrenaline
A systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrated that in patients experiencing anaphylaxis, it is unlikely that stron-
adrenaline premedication reduces adverse reactions when ger evidence will be forthcoming.
administering snakebite antivenom (54) (RR = 0.32, 95% CI We found no evidence from primary studies for other
0.18–0.58). A subsequent factorial designed RCT investigated potential treatments, such as fluid replacement, oxygen,
the use of adrenaline, antihistamines and glucocorticosteroids glucocorticosteroids, antihistamines, methylxanthines and
given alone or in combination (55). This also found adrena- bronchodilators, and it is therefore not possible to offer any
line, but not other interventions, to be effective in reducing recommendations for the use of these treatments.
the risk of anaphylaxis.
Long-term management of anaphylaxis
Pharmacological interventions for the prevention of
anaphylaxis to iodinated contrast media The long-term management of anaphylaxis centres on the
One systematic review of nine trials involving 10 011 unse- need to identify triggers and co-factors, providing advice on
lected patients failed to demonstrate that premedication with how to minimize further reactions, and equipping individuals
glucocorticosteroids, H1-antihistamines or a combination of with the skills and equipment needed to manage further reac-
H1- and H2-antihistamines prevented anaphylaxis triggered tions (57). Consideration also needs to be given to ameliorate
by iodinated contrast media (56). any psychological consequences of a diagnosis of anaphy-
laxis. Researchers have therefore thus far focused attention
on the role of anaphylaxis management plans, immunomodu-
Discussion
latory interventions and a variety of educational and psycho-
This comprehensive review of the international literature has logical interventions.
found little robust evidence for the acute or long-term man- The formal experimental evidence in support of anaphy-
agement of anaphylaxis. The only trial evidence uncovered laxis management plans is limited. Studies that have,

Allergy 69 (2014) 168–175 © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd 171
Managing anaphylaxis Dhami et al.

however, used before–after designs and that therefore did anaphylaxis to foods; these studies are therefore reviewed in
not satisfy our inclusion criteria have found that these may the companion systematic review on the management of
result in substantial reductions in the risks of further food allergy.
reactions (58, 59). Given the high risk of confounding with Prophylactic approaches can also potentially play a role in
such study designs, this evidence must be interpreted with those with a history of anaphylaxis. The evidence we uncov-
caution. ered did not, however, directly focus on this population.
The single educational study included failed to show a Rather, the approaches studied have been used in the general
positive effect on carriage of in-date adrenaline auto-injectors population and have found that prophylactic use of adrena-
by high school children with previous anaphylaxis. A study line can substantially reduce the risk of anaphylaxis associ-
with a before–after design found that the input of a multidis- ated with anti-snake venom, that adding antihistamines or
ciplinary allergy clinic was effective in improving parents’ glucocorticosteroids conferred no additional advantage and
knowledge of food allergy and in reducing subsequent reac- that antihistamines and glucocorticosteroids were of ques-
tions (60). This evidence is encouraging, but due to the high tionable value in preventing anaphylaxis associated with
inherent risk of bias associated with such a design, these find- iodinated contrast media-based diagnostic investigations in
ings need to be treated with caution until more evidence from unselected populations.
studies employing more robust study designs is forthcoming.
The systematic review on psychological interventions for chil-
Implications for future research
dren with a history of anaphylaxis and their parents/carers
was difficult to interpret because of its poor quality and This review has underscored the dearth of high-quality
reporting. Whilst clearly demonstrating that a number of research to guide everyday clinical decision-making. There is
studies have found that a diagnosis of anaphylaxis can be then a pressing need to develop the evidence base for both
associated with anxiety and impaired quality of life, there the acute and long-term management of this potentially life-
was very little in the way of primary evidence demonstrating threatening disorder. In relation to acute management, it is
that intervening could improve outcomes in such individuals/ widely accepted that it would be unethical to undertake stud-
families. ies investigating the effectiveness of adrenaline when com-
Immunomodulatory approaches are of considerable inter- pared with placebo, but trials could potentially be
est as these have the potential to modify the disease course undertaken investigating the optimum dose, site, route and
and may possibly prove curative. We found a modest body timing of administration of adrenaline. Other important
of evidence in relation to VIT in relation to the manage- questions that need to be addressed include establishing the
ment of those with stinging insect anaphylaxis, although role of H1- and H2-antihistamines and glucocorticosteroids,
much of this was judged to be at high risk of bias. This and these could also potentially be investigated using formal
body of evidence did, however, consistently demonstrate experimental designs. Similarly, there are a range of interven-
that VIT can significantly reduce the severity of subsequent tions delivered with the aim of improving longer-term out-
systemic reactions to insect stings, but given the infre- comes – for example, provision of adrenaline auto-injectors,
quency of further stings and the low number of fatalities, anaphylaxis management plans, immunotherapy – and these
it was not possible to assess whether VIT reduced the risk can all potentially also be studied using formal trial designs.
of fatal reactions to insect stings. There were no formal Ideally, these studies should investigate the impact of inter-
cost-effectiveness studies identified, the only potentially rele- ventions on the outcomes that have been carefully described
vant evidence emerging from modelling studies in relation in recent Cochrane and other systematic reviews (12, 14, 28,
to a specific product: this found that VIT is most likely to 29, 35). A fuller discussion of the research agenda will be
be cost-effective in populations at high risk of further made available in the forthcoming EAACI Anaphylaxis
exposure (e.g. bee keepers, their family members and those Guidelines.
who live near bee farms) or if likely benefits to quality of
life are accounted for. VIT is a treatment which has been
Conclusions
shown to reduce subsequent reactions, and although the
treatment may give rise to adverse effects, it is a treatment There is at present little in the way of robust evidence to
patients prefer over the long-term carriage of an adrenaline guide decisions on the acute or long-term management of
auto-injector. In state-funded health services, however, the anaphylaxis. Key recommendations from this review have
cost implications of such an intervention may prevent been summarized in Box 1. Given the risk of death and
widespread availability limiting its use to high-risk patients the considerable morbidity associated with anaphylaxis,
only where its cost-effectiveness profile is likely to be much these evidence gaps need to be filled wherever possible
more favourable. (61). These gaps include the need for educational interven-
We found no eligible studies investigating the role of tions for patients, carers and healthcare professionals, lack
desensitization therapy in the management of those with of data on the pharmacodynamics of adrenaline and the
anaphylaxis to drugs or latex. Studies investigating the ideal dosage in children and to some extent adults, and a
effectiveness of oral and sublingual immunotherapy have lack of effective study designs on the benefits of educa-
mainly been undertaken in those without a history of tional plans (62).

172 Allergy 69 (2014) 168–175 © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Dhami et al. Managing anaphylaxis

Contributorship
Box 1: Key recommendations
AS, AM and GR conceived this review. It was undertaken
• There is some evidence that prompt administration by SD with the support of SSP, GR and AS. SD, AS and
of adrenaline may be life-saving; it should therefore GR led the drafting of the manuscript, and all authors criti-
be used as the drug of first choice in the acute cally commented on drafts of the manuscript.
management of anaphylaxis.
• Adrenaline should be administered by the intramus-
Funding
cular route into the anterolateral aspect of the mid-
thigh. EAACI.
• Anaphylaxis management plans may reduce the
severity of subsequent reactions.
• VIT may reduce the severity of subsequent reac- Ethical approval
tions and improve quality of life, but cost-effective- Ethical approval was not required.
ness considerations should be considered,
particularly in those at low risk of further stings.
• Adrenaline used prophylactically can reduce severe Conflicts of interest
adverse effects associated with anti-snake venom The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
administration.

Supporting Information
Additional Supporting Information may be found in the
Acknowledgments
online version of this article:
We would like to acknowledge the support of the EAACI Data S1. Methods.
and the EAACI Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Guidelines Table S1. Key characteristics of included studies.
Group in supporting the undertaking of this systematic Table S2. Quality assessment of systematic reviews.
review. We would also like to thank the EAACI Executive Table S3. Quality assessment of original studies.
Committee for their helpful comments and suggestions. Table S4. Ongoing/unpublished studies.

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