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An improved prick skin-test procedure for young children
Insights
Prick skin testing is effective whether the allergen extract is removed immediately or left for 15 minutes. This finding simplifies allergy testing procedures for both patients and clinicians.
Area of Science:
- Allergy and Immunology
- Dermatology
- Clinical Research
Background:
- Prick skin testing offers advantages for pediatric allergy diagnosis, including reduced anaphylaxis risk and patient discomfort.
- A practical concern for prick testing involves managing allergen extracts at the skin site, especially with pediatric patients.
- Uncertainty exists regarding the optimal duration for allergen extract presence at the prick test site.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether immediate removal or a 15-minute presence of allergen extract impacts prick skin test results.
- To compare the efficacy of two prick testing methods for allergy diagnosis.
Main Methods:
- Duplicate prick tests using five concentrations of ragweed extract were performed on 16 ragweed-sensitive adults.
- One set of tests involved immediate removal of extract drops post-prick.
- The second set of tests involved leaving extract drops at the prick site for 15 minutes before measurement.
Main Results:
- Wheal and flare responses were recorded for all tests.
- Analysis of paired observations revealed no statistically significant difference between the two prick testing methods.
- The duration of extract presence (immediate removal vs. 15 minutes) did not alter test outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Immediate removal of allergen extract after prick testing is as effective as leaving it for 15 minutes.
- This finding supports the practicality of prick skin testing, particularly for pediatric populations.
- The study simplifies allergy testing protocols by demonstrating flexibility in extract management.
Abstract:
The prick method of skin testing is advantageous for young children because of the decreased risk of anaphylaxis and less patient discomfort. Some would argue, however, that the necessity of keeping extract drops at the skin-test sites makes prick testing impractical compared with intradermal testing for squirming youngsters. Since the literature is not clear concerning the length of time extract must be present at the prick site, we performed duplicate sets of prick tests with five concentrations of ragweed extract on 16 ragweed-sensitive adults. For one set of tests, the drops were removed immediately after the skin had been pricked; for the other set, extracts remained at the site for 15 min. After 15 min we recorded the size of the wheal and flare response for each test. On the basis of analysis of these paired observations, we concluded that there is no significant difference between these two methods of administering prick skin tests.
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