Abstract

A shortcut review was carried out to establish whether steroids prevent biphasic anaphylactic reactions in children. Seven papers were directly relevant to the question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these papers are tabulated. The clinical bottom line is that there are no trials to show that steroids prevent biphasic reactions. However, there are other grounds for using them in anaphylactic reactions and they are still recommended in guidelines.