Safety, effectiveness, and acceptability of antenatal penicillin allergy evaluation: a systematic review.

Abstract

Approximately 8% to 13% of pregnant patients report a penicillin allergy. Penicillins and other beta-lactams are widely used in pregnancy but are often avoided in these patients, resulting in suboptimal therapy, antimicrobial resistance, higher costs, and increased morbidity for patients and neonates. True penicillin allergy is rare, and 95% of unverified penicillin allergies are delabeled upon evaluation. Although penicillin allergy evaluation is safe and recommended for pregnant patients, few patients are assessed. Research concerning antenatal penicillin allergy evaluation is accelerating, and we undertook a systematic review to summarize this growing body of evidence for obstetrical providers. A comprehensive search of Medline, Embase, CINAHL, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed (ahead-of-print and non-Medline records), and ClinicalTrials.gov was conducted in collaboration with a medical information specialist. There were no restrictions on study language, date, or design. All peer-reviewed studies of pregnant people reporting an unverified penicillin allergy and undergoing penicillin allergy evaluation with ≥5 participants were included. Case reports, non-peer-reviewed sources, and studies regarding desensitization of verified penicillin-allergic patients were excluded. Title/abstract review, full-text review, and data extraction were completed independently by 2 authors. Conflicts were resolved by a third author. Studies were evaluated using validated quality assessment tools. Nineteen studies (N=2085) were eligible for inclusion. In total, 1956 (93.81%) participants were delabeled through various approaches: direct oral challenge (18.61%), penicillin skin test and oral challenge (51.12%), penicillin skin test and intravenous challenge (2.97%), penicillin skin test alone (18.00%), history review (1.94%), and unspecified methods (7.41%). Acceptance of penicillin allergy evaluation was 60.88%. Overall, 17 mild and 8 mild delayed allergy-related adverse reactions occurred, requiring minimal intervention. There were 3 severe allergy-related adverse reactions: 2 participants experienced anaphylaxis (managed with intramuscular epinephrine and observation), and 1 patient had mild drug-induced hepatitis (resolved with observation). No hospital transfers were required. No adverse antenatal events were recorded. Penicillin allergy evaluation in pregnancy is safe, effective, and acceptable to patients. The case is strong for expanding access to optimize antimicrobial therapy, reduce antibiotic resistance, and improve outcomes for pregnant people and neonates.