Intravenous Immunoglobulin Infusion Reactions in Kawasaki Disease Patients Who Undergo Sedation.

OBJECTIVES

Although IVIG infusions are usually well tolerated, reactions can include hypotension, chills, and, rarely, anaphylactic reactions. Risk of adverse reactions correlates with dose and rate of IVIG infusion. An echocardiogram is the preferred imaging modality to detect coronary artery changes in acute Kawasaki disease (KD), but the quality of the study can be compromised if a child moves much during the imaging procedure. Thus, sedation is often required for children younger than 3 years of age. There is concern regarding coadministration of IVIG and sedatives. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis is to determine when the majority of IVIG infusion reactions occur to help find the optimal time to safely perform a sedated echocardiogram in patients with KD.

METHODS

This is a retrospective, single-center analysis of patients with KD administered IVIG at Rady Children's Hospital San Diego from November 1, 2013, to October 31, 2016.

RESULTS

Of the 260 subjects in this study, 34 (13%) had an IVIG infusion reaction consisting of either chills or hypotension. There were no anaphylactic reactions. All infusion reactions occurred within 4 hours of starting IVIG. No hypotension reactions occurred after 4 hours. All subjects were able to complete their IVIG infusion without any further complications.

CONCLUSIONS

Given that the maximum IVIG infusion rate is reached at 1.5 hours per our hospital's policy and that the overwhelming majority of infusion reactions occurred within the first 4 hours, we found it is safe to coadminister IVIG with sedation 4 hours after initiation of IVIG infusion.