CLINICO-EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF CUTANEOUS ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS IN A TERITIARY CARE CENTRE

Background: Cutaneous adverse drug reactions (CADRs), sometimes referred to as toxidermia, are skin side effects of systemic medication delivery that affect 0.1-0.3% of patients who visit the DVL department. These responses might be as minor as a drug rash or as serious as life threatening reactions.

Aims & objectives: To evaluate the age and sex distribution, clinical types, and offending drugs causing cutaneous adverse drug reactions.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted at the DVL OPD in a tertiary care hospital in Andhra Pradesh for a duration of 1 year from January 2023 to December 2023, a total of 90 patients with cutaneous drug reactions were noted.

Results: In this study, there was female dominance (46%) and most of the patients were in their 30 to 50 years of age group(62.2%) with fixed drug eruption (64.4%) being the most common clinical profile of CADRs, followed by erythema multiforme(8.88%), lichenoid drug eruption (7.77%), acneiform eruption(6.66%), maculopapular eruption (5.55%), urticarial rash (2.22%), keratolysisexfoliativa(2.22%),and SJS/TEN(2.22%). The most culpable group of drugs causing CADRs were antibiotics (40.28%), NSAIDs (28.43%), and anticonvulsants (11.6%).

Conclusion:Commonly used drugs like antibiotics and NSAIDs can cause cutaneous adverse drug reactions(CADRs). Hence judicious use of these drugs with necessary caution would be highly beneficial.