Urticarial Reactions
PREVENTION: Since you know that histamine causes urticaria, you can probably guess the easiest way to prevent these reactions.
Yep, you guessed it: Antihistamines are the treatment of choice for urticarial reaction prevention. In particular, our friend diphenhydramine (Benadryl), which we just learned can be used to treat urticaria, can also be used 30 minutes or so before transfusion to prevent them, too. Some people get a little nervous about this, but in my opinion (addressed in an FAQ elsewhere on this site), diphenhydramine prophylaxis really has no significant downside.
Hey, cool! Another reaction down! Click the "Transfusion Reactions Index" link below to head back to that area and explore another reaction.
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