Two-hour observation after epinephrine dose likely safe in most kids with anaphylaxis

Key takeaways:

The number of children who received repeat epinephrine dropped as time passed since the first dose.

About 95% of children could have been safely discharged once 2 hours passed since their first epinephrine dose.

Perspective from Michael Pistiner, MD, MMSc

When caring for children who present to the ED with an acute allergic reaction requiring epinephrine, an observation time of 2 hours was enough for a safe discharge in 95.3% of patients, according to study results.

These findings were published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health .

“Most children with anaphylaxis are still observed for 4 hours or more,” Timothy E. Dribin, MD , associate professor, department of emergency medicine, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, told Healio. “These finding