Medical history (history of illness) represents an important component in the diagnosis of anaphylaxis/anaphylactic shock* .
Family history
- What is the current health status of your family members?
Social anamnesis
Current medical history/systemic history (somatic and psychological complaints) [third-party history, if applicable].
- Do you have any complaints on the part of the skin and mucosa?
- Itching?
- Redness occurring in fits and starts?
- Formation of wheals / hives?
- Swelling (eg, in the facial area: lip, cheeks, forehead) that occurred suddenly?
- Do you have any complaints on the part of the gastrointestinal tract?
- Nausea?
- Abdominal cramps?
- Vomiting?
- Do you have any complaints on the part of the respiratory system?
- Runny nose?
- Hoarseness?
- Shortness of breath?
- Do you have any discomfort on the part of the cardiovascular system?
- Heart palpitations?
- Low blood pressure and thus dizziness or “blackness before the eyes”?
- Palpitations?
- Stumbling heart?
- How quickly did the symptoms occur?
- When did the complaints start?
- Was or is the patient unconscious? (Foreign anamnesis)
Vegetative anamnesis incl. nutritional anamnesis.
- Do you drink alcohol? If so, what beverage(s) and how many glasses of each per day?
Self history incl. medication history.
- Pre-existing conditions (cardiovascular disease, infections, injuries).
- Operations
- Allergies (drug allergies?, food allergies?, insect bite allergies?).
- Drug history (see below “Drug exanthema/causes”: esp. frequently nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and antibiotics); Oral immunotherapy (OIT) in children due to peanut allergy. Peanut Allergy Note: OIT with peanut increased the risk and frequency of anaphylaxis by about threefold compared with not using this therapy (22, 2 vs. 7.1 percent); OIT children were about twice as likely to need epinephrine as emergency medication compared with control group children without the oral immunotherapy.
* If anaphylaxis/anaphylactic shock is suspected, a medical emergency exists! (Information without guarantee)
