http://www.fpnotebook.com/

Fixed Drug Eruption

See Also
1. Adverse Drug Reaction
Causes
1. Antibiotics: Most common
  1. Sulfonamides (e.g. Bactrim)
  2. Tetracycline
2. Antibiotics: Other
  1. Acetaminophen
  2. Antifungals
  3. Antimalarials
  4. Barbiturates
  5. Benzodiazepines
  6. Cephalosporins
  7. Clindamycin
  8. Dapsone
  9. Fluoroquinolones
  10. NSAIDs or Aspirin
  11. Opiates
  12. Penicillins
Symptoms
1. Lesion with pruritic or burning pain
2. Lesion timing
  1. Onset within days to weeks of medication use
  2. Lesion resolves once medication is withdrawn
  3. Lesions recur at same site on reexposure to drug
Signs
1. Lesion distribution
  1. Face or ears
  2. Genital region
  3. Sacral area
  4. Hands or feet
2. Lesion characteristics
  1. Round erythematous patch with sharp borders
  2. May also present as bullae or ulcers
Management
1. Withdraw suspected medication
2. Consider Corticosteroids (topical or systemic)
3. Consider Antihistamine for Pruritus
4. Observe open lesions for secondary infection
References
1. Crowson (2003) Am J Clin Dermatol 4:407

Navigation Tree

Please see the Terms and Conditions. Please also see the privacy statement regarding advertising on this page. Although access to this page is not restricted, the information found here is intended for use by medical providers. Patients should address specific medical concerns with their physicians.

This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 5/16/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.