A clinico-aetiological study of fixed drug eruption amongst the patient attending tertiary care centre

Introduction: Fixed drug eruption (FDE) is a cutaneous adverse drug reaction characterized by recurrent well defined lesions occurring in the same sites each time the offending drug is taken. FDE typically presents 30 min to 8 h after drug exposure. An extensive list of medications are known to cause FDE and finding the underlying drug help in proper management of cases. Aim: To study and analyse the causes and clinical pattern of FDE. Materials and Methods: The study was performed in Silchar Medical College and Hospital, Silchar, Assam. A total of 50 cases of FDE were studied. Cases of FDEs encountered between July 2018 to June 2019 during routine pharmacovigilance activities were analyzed. Result: Among 50 patients, 34 were male and 16 were female. Majority of patient were between the age of 18-40 years, mean age being 33.4 years. In 31 cases there was previous history of drug intake. Commonly affected sites include genitals and lips, palms and soles followed by extremities and other sites. Most common causative drug was due to antimicrobial followed by NSAIDs. Conclusion: Although clinical presentation of most of the patient was similar a detailed history, physical examination and drug provocation test helped us to reach most of the diagnosis. Keywords: Fixed drug eruption, Provocative tests.