Urticaria Disease Summary

Urticaria is a predominantly mast cell-driven disease characterized by the appearance of wheals (hives) and/or angioedema. Wheals in urticaria are characterized by variable shape and size surrounded by erythema, pruritus or burning sensation, and transient appearance (skin returns to normal within 30 minutes to 24 hours).
It is classified acute if the urticaria has been present for ≤6 weeks and chronic if >6 weeks. It can be spontaneous (no definite triggering factor) or inducible (a specific definite triggering factor is identified).
It can be triggered by immunological or non-immunological mechanism.
Principles of therapy are complete symptomatic relief and normalization of quality of life. Good control should be the goal if complete control is not achieved after utilization of all treatment alternatives.
Oral antihistamine is the first-line treatment because histamine is an important mediator of symptoms in most types of urticaria. It is effective in controlling the symptoms of pruritus and reducing the number, size and duration of urticarial lesions.

For further information regarding the management of Urticaria, please refer to Disease Algorithm for the Treatment Guideline.