The benefits of glucocorticoid treatment and recent trends of adjunctive treatments during episodes of anaphylaxis has not been clarified yet.

A new study published in Pediatric Emergency Care aimed to investigate recent practice patterns and to compare the effects of glucocorticoid on children hospitalized with anaphylaxis.

This study utilized the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination inpatient database to compare the length of hospital stay, risk of 10-day readmission, and total hospitalization cost between the steroid and non-steroid groups. In addition, recent trends on adjunctive treatments for anaphylaxis were evaluated.

It was observed that between 2010 and 2014, the use of H1-receptor antagonist had increased from 65.1% to 71.8%. While the use of H2-receptor antagonist also showed an upward trend (2.8-16.7%). On the other hand, a significant change in glucocorticoid use could not be established. Meanwhile, the total length of hospital stay was 0.39 days longer in the steroid group than in the non-steroid group. Overall hospitalization cost was greater in the steroid group than in the non-steroid group. However, the difference in the risk of 10-day readmission was insignificant between the groups.

The results indicated an increasing trend of H1- and H2-receptor antagonist use. Length of hospital stay and total hospitalization cost were greater among patients on steroid therapy, whereas readmission risks were similar between those who were on steroid therapy and those who were not.