Hypersensitivity Reactions

A 16 year old male is being seen in the ER for cellulitis and a skin abscess. He has already undergone I & D of the abscess and he's waiting to be discharged. You order a shot of Clindamycin, 600mg to be given IM prior to his discharge. Five minutes later, you're called back into the room and you see the patient is in respiratory distress and having very labored breathing. His face is puffy and his voice sounds muffled.

As you consider what to do next, you are struck with a very important question. What type of hypersensitivity reaction is this again? Is it the one with IgE, type 1, type 2, I can't quite remember. Okay, not really that's really not the most important thing at the moment, you know its anaphylaxis, you know that you need to give him Epi; so you draw up 0.5mg and you give it IM, probably saving this guy's life.

So I'll admit maybe the type of hypersensitivity reaction isn't the most clinically relevant information in a crisis situation, but I will say hypersensitivity reactions are high-yield in terms of board review, and they also shed light on the pathophysiology behind many common diseases. Today on the Medgeeks podcast we discuss hypersensitivity reactions.

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