Adding prednisone to levocetirizine provided no additional benefit in a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial.
Antihistamines are the main treatment for isolated urticaria without angioedema, but some physicians also prescribe steroids.
To determine whether combining prednisone with the nonsedating H1 blocker levocetirizine adds benefit in this setting, French investigators at two academic emergency departments conducted a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial involving 100 patients with acute urticaria of ≤24 hours duration. Patients received levocetirizine (5 mg orally per day for 5 days) plus either prednisone or placebo (40 mg orally per day for 4 days).
Similar percentages of prednisone and placebo recipients achieved an itch score of zero at 2 days (62% and 76%, respectively), suffered relapses (30% and 24%), and experienced mild adverse ev…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education
Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education
Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals