Publication:

Prevalence and pattern of adverse cutaneous drug reactions presenting to a tertiary care hospital

Background An adverse cutaneous drug reaction (ACDR) is defined as an undesirable clinical manifestation resulting from administration of a particular drug. With an ever increasing number of drugs and varied formulations being continuously made available it is important that a close watch on the risks of adverse drug reactions is looked for, to ensure safe use of medicines in the interest of the patient. In the present study our aim is to study the prevalence & pattern of cutaneous adverse drug reactions reported to department of dermatology at MediCiti Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, India.

Methods All suspected cutaneous adverse drug reactions reported to the department of dermatology at MediCiti Institute of Medical Sciences during the two year period from January 2013 to December 2014 were included in this study. A thorough clinical examination of all these cases & details related to the drug use and clinical manifestations of the cutaneous adverse drug reaction were documented using a structured proforma. Naranjo scale was used to assess causality in all the causes of cutaneous adverse drug reactions.

Results The mean age of the patients was 42 years (age range: 1-64 years). Most of them were in the age group of 30-39 years. The male to female ratio was 1.78:1. The most common type of skin eruptions observed were maculopapular rash (35.55%), urticaria (26.19%) and fixed drug eruption (17.87%). The mean duration between drug intake and appearance of rash was 4 days (range: 1-120 days).

Conclusions The pattern of ACDRs and the drugs causing them in this study were similar to that reported in other studies both in terms of disease burden and clinical pattern. Knowledge of adverse cutaneous drug reactions will help to identify common medications contributing to dermatological reactions, so as to anticipate, prevent and limit their undue consequences.