Urticaria Workup

  • Author: M Scott Linscott, MD, FACEP; Chief Editor: Pamela L Dyne, MD   more...
 
Updated: Apr 2, 2010
 

Laboratory Studies

  • For acute urticaria, laboratory studies generally are not indicated. The patient's history and physical examination should direct any diagnostic studies.
  • For chronic or recurrent urticaria, basic laboratory studies should include a CBC, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, TSH, and an ANA looking for possible causes of the urticaria.[21]
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Imaging Studies

  • Imaging studies generally are not indicated unless a specific finding on clinical examination or history suggests an underlying etiology that may warrant further diagnostic studies.[21]
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Procedures

  • If urticarial vasculitis is suspected (urticaria lasting longer than 24 h; significant pain as well as pruritus), a punch biopsy of the lesion should be performed and sent to the pathology laboratory to look for leukocytoclastic vasculitis.[4]
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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

M Scott Linscott, MD, FACEP  Professor, Division of Emergency Medicine, Professor of Surgery (Clinical), University of Utah School of Medicine

M Scott Linscott, MD, FACEP is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, and Utah Medical Association

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Steven A Conrad, MD, PhD  Chief, Department of Emergency Medicine; Chief, Multidisciplinary Critical Care Service, Professor, Department of Emergency and Internal Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center

Steven A Conrad, MD, PhD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Critical Care Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Physicians, International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, Louisiana State Medical Society, Shock Society, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, and Society of Critical Care Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD  Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine

Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment

Mark W Fourre, MD  Program Director, Department of Emergency Medicine, Maine Medical Center; Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Vermont School of Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

John D Halamka, MD, MS  Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Pamela L Dyne, MD  Professor of Clinical Medicine/Emergency Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; Attending Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center

Pamela L Dyne, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

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