Child health · UKMLA & AKT
Anaphylaxis
A free high-yield preview for the UKMLA Applied Knowledge Test. Below are the key points to recognise anaphylaxis — the full SA Note notes add investigations, management, complications and 10 practice questions.
Key high-yield points
- Sudden onset, rapidly progressive reaction with airway and/or breathing and/or circulation compromise, usually with skin/mucosal changes. Absence of skin changes does not exclude the diagnosis.
- Urticaria/erythema - pruritic wheals; present in up to 80%
- Angioedema - swelling of lips, tongue, face, throat
- Stridor - laryngeal oedema, upper airway obstruction; greater immediate threat to life than bronchoconstriction
- Wheeze/dyspnoea - lower airway bronchoconstriction
- Hypotension and tachycardia - distributive shock; SBP <90 mmHg is a red flag
Stridor = laryngeal oedema = upper airway obstruction. This takes absolute priority - nebulised bronchodilators do NOT address upper airway oedema and must never delay IM adrenaline.
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