Adverse Cutaneous Drug Reactions

The skin is one of the most frequently involved organs by drug side effects, with the incidence of adverse cutaneous drug reactions situated between 0.1 – 1% of patients during pre-marketing clinical trials, and post-marketing analyses suggest that their incidence can be as high as 1 – 8% for certain types of drugs (NSAIDS, antibiotics, antiepileptics). Adverse cutaneous drug reactions are benign in nature in over 98% of cases and present most frequently as maculo-papular eruptions or urticaria. However, studies suggest that roughly a third of drug eruptions require hospital management and are considered as severe, although fortunately only 2% of cutaneous drug eruptions are really life-threatening; this is the case for Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP), and drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS)/drug induced hypersensitivity syndrome (DIHS). It is estimated that between 2 and 5% of all hospital costs are related to adverse drug eruptions, and – cutaneous adverse drug eruptions representing 20 – 30% of all drug eruptions – the burden of these on the health care system is considerable.

Publication History

Article published online:
17 November 2020

• References

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