Generic placeholder image

Current Drug Safety

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1574-8863
ISSN (Online): 2212-3911

Case Report

A Routine over the Counter Phenylephrine Causing Rarer Drug Eruption as Adverse Drug Reaction - A Case Report

Author(s): Sree Sudha Tanguturi Yella*, Kota Sesha Brahma Sri Krishna Sasanka, Harminder Singh* and Bhumika Meena

Volume 19, Issue 2, 2024

Published on: 23 June, 2023

Page: [291 - 294] Pages: 4

DOI: 10.2174/1574886318666230601162144

Price: $65

conference banner
Abstract

Background: Phenylephrine is a sympathomimetic, which means it acts analogous to adrenaline. Phenylephrine can be taken orally to treat nasal congestion symptoms. It is also frequently mixed with other medicines in products meant to relieve cough and cold symptoms. Given the widespread usage of phenylephrine, related drug eruptions appear to be uncommon.

Case Presentation: Here we discuss a case of a 19-year-old female patient who reported to our hospital with blebs on the skin throughout her legs and torso. The drug eruption or adverse drug response was linked with itching, had a slow beginning, and progressed. Her medical history indicated that she had been taking phenylephrine 10 mg orally twice a day. On the sixth day, she experienced an adverse medication response caused by the medicine phenylephrine. Phenylephrine was stopped immediately and the other medications, such as levocetirizine, montelukast, and nasal spray, were continued. The patient was told not to use phenylephrine, either alone or in combination with FDCs. There are no other complaints. As a result, the patient was diagnosed with phenylephrine- induced eruption.

Conclusion: We present this case to highlight the importance of inspiring a pharmacovigilance mindset among all clinicians providing care as a routine alert drug, phenylephrine-induced drug eruption.

Keywords: Drug eruption, phenylephrine, sympathomimetic, adverse drug reaction, pharmacovigilance, levocetirizine.

Graphical Abstract
[1]
Riedl MA, Casillas AM. Adverse drug reactions: types and treatment options. Am Fam Physician 2003; 68(9): 1781-90.
[PMID: 14620598]
[2]
Roujeau JC, Stern RS. Severe adverse cutaneous reactions to drugs. N Engl J Med 1994; 331(19): 1272-85.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199411103311906] [PMID: 7794310]
[3]
Christensen LK, Armstead VE, Bilyeu DP, Johnson KE, Friesen RH. Hemodynamic responses and plasma phenylephrine concentrations associated with intranasal phenylephrine in children. Paediatr Anaesth 2017; 27(7): 768-73.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pan.13168] [PMID: 28504321]
[4]
El-Alali E, Alhmoud T. Acute Ischemic Colitis due to Oral Phenylephrine. ACG Case Rep J 2020; 7(9): e00459.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.14309/crj.0000000000000459] [PMID: 33062792]
[5]
The use of the WHO-UMC system for standardized case causality assessment. Available from: http://www.who-umc.org/graphics/24734.pdf
[6]
Shiohara T, Mizukawa Y. Fixed drug eruption: a disease mediated by self-inflicted responses of intraepidermal T cells. Eur J Dermatol 2007; 17(3): 201-8.
[PMID: 17478380]
[7]
Sehgal VN, Srivastava G. Fixed drug eruption (FDE): changing scenario of incriminating drugs. Int J Dermatol 2006; 45(8): 897-908.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-4632.2006.02853.x] [PMID: 16911371]
[8]
Breathnach SM. Drug reactions. In: Burns T, Breathnach S, Cox N, Griffiths C, Eds. Rook’s Textbook of Dermatology. (8th ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Science 2010; pp. 28-177.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781444317633.ch75]
[9]
Pai V, Bhandari P, Kikkeri N, Athanikar S, Sori T. Fixed drug eruption to fluconazole: A case report and review of literature. Indian J Pharmacol 2012; 44(5): 643-5.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0253-7613.100403] [PMID: 23112430]
[10]
Brahimi N, Routier E, Raison-Peyron N, et al. A three-year-analysis of fixed drug eruptions in hospital settings in France. Eur J Dermatol 2010; 20(4): 461-4.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2010.0980] [PMID: 20507840]
[11]
Tetsuo S. Fixed drug eruption. UpToDate Available from: https://www.uptodate.com/contents/fixed-drug-eruption
[12]
García Ortiz JC, Terron M, Bellido J. Nonpigmenting fixed exanthema from ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. Allergy 1997; 52(2): 229-30.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1398-9995.1997.tb00981.x] [PMID: 9105531]
[13]
Vidal C, Pérez-Carral C, Armisén M, Prieto A. Nonpigmenting fixed drug eruption due to pseudoephedrine. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 1998; 80(4): 309-10.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1081-1206(10)62974-2] [PMID: 9564979]
[14]
Lopez AR, Iriarte SP, Castro MM, Gracia BMT, Sesma S. Fixed drug eruption induced by phenylephrine: A case of polysensitivity. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2009; 19(4): 322-3.
[15]
Gonzalo-Garijo MA, Pérez-Calderón R, de Argila D, Rodríguez-Nevado I. Erythrodermia to pseudoephedrine in a patient with contact allergy to phenylephrine. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr) 2002; 30(4): 239-42.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0301-0546(02)79127-1] [PMID: 12199969]
[16]
Barranco R, Rodríguez A, de Barrio M, et al. Sympathomimetic drug allergy: cross-reactivity study by patch test. Am J Clin Dermatol 2004; 5(5): 351-5.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.2165/00128071-200405050-00008] [PMID: 15554736]

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy