Differential Diagnosis in Suspected Anaphylaxis
Jun 10, 2024If symptoms persist after appropriate management, the ANZAAG Differential Diagnosis Card is helpful for ruling out other causes based on the clinical picture. 🧐📈
Here’s an outline: 👇🏼
👉🏾 Cardiac arrest?
🔺 4 Hs & 4 Ts (see our CS article on Causes of Cardiac Arrest)
👉🏾 Difficulty ventilating?
🔺 Oesophageal intubation - confirm ETCO2
🔺 Circuit/ventilator issue - try self-inflating bag
🔺 Airway kinked/blocked - check +/- replace
🔺 Tension pneumothorax - diagnose with ultrasound +/- decompress
🔺 Asthma exacerbation - see “refractory management card”
🔺 Foreign body - consider bronchoscopy
🔺 Acid aspiration - consider bronchoscopy
👉🏾 Hypotension?
🔺 Hypovolaemia
🔺 Sepsis
🔺 Drug overdose
🔺 Vasodilation (drug related)
🔺 Neuraxial blockade
🔺 Embolic event
🔺 Vagal tone
👉🏾 Rash?
🔺 Histamine release
🔺 Venous obstruction
🔺 Head down position
🔺 C1-esterase deficiency
🔺 Mastocytosis
🔺 Cold urticaria
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Ref: https://media.anzaag.com/2022/11/22150343/Card-5-Differential-Diagnosis-Nov2022.pdf