International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology | December 2020 | Vol 9 | Issue 12 Page 1903
International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology
Malathi DC et al. Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol. 2020 Dec;9(12):1903-1905
http://www.ijbcp.com
pISSN 2319-2003 | eISSN 2279-0780
Case Report
Self-medicated, satranidazole induced fixed drug eruption:
a case report
Divyashanthi Chellathambi Malathi*, Anusha Bommasani, Raman Palanisami Priyadharsini
INTRODUCTION
Cutaneous drug reactions are the most frequently
occurring adverse reactions to drugs. The frequency of
cutaneous reactions to specific drugs may exceed 10%.
There are four categories of cutaneous drug reactions:
immediate-type immune-mediated reactions, delayed-
type immune-mediated reactions, photosensitivity
reactions, and autoimmune syndromes.
1
Drug induced
cutaneous eruptions frequently display a characteristic
clinical morphology such as morbilliform exanthem,
urticaria, hypersensitivity syndrome pseudolymphoma,
photosensitivity, pigmentary changes, acute generalized
exanthematous pustulosis, lichenoid dermatitis,
vasculitis, Steven-Johnson syndrome, or fixed drug
eruption.
2
Fixed drug eruption (FDE) are distinct type of drug
eruptions that appear as pruritic, well circumscribed,
round or oval-shaped, erythematous macules or
edematous plaques and characteristically recur at the
same sites up on re exposure to the offending drug. They
usually resolve spontaneously with hyperpigmentation.
3
After healing, lesions present on the skin and mucous
membrane for prolonged periods as grey brown macules.
On repeated exposure the number and severity of lesions
may increase. Symptoms like swelling and redness of
skin can be seen as early within 30 minutes of exposure
to the drug. Extremities, genitals and perianal areas are
the most common areas where the lesions can be seen but
they may appear on any location.
Nitroimidazoles are low molecular weight antimicrobial
compounds with excellent activity against anaerobic
micro-organisms and protozoa. They are the first line
drugs for hepatic and intestinal amoebiasis. All the
nitroimidazoles: metronidazole, tinidazole, ornidazole,
secnidazole and satranidazole, have a similar
nitroimidazole ring but different side chains.
Although all these molecules have been used for a long
time without many side-effects, only metronidazole and
Department of Pharmacology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Karaikal,
Puducherry, India
Received: 23 September 2020
Accepted: 29 October 2020
*Correspondence:
Dr. Divyashanthi Chellathambi Malathi,
Email: dishanthii@gmail.com
Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
ABSTRACT
Fixed drug eruption (FDE) is described as the development of one or more annular or oval erythematous patches as a
result of systemic exposure to a drug; these reactions normally resolve with hyperpigmentation and may recur at the
same site with re-exposure to the drug. Repeated exposure to the offending drug may cause new lesions to develop in
addition to lighting up the older hyperpigmented lesions. Here we present an interesting case of satranidazole induced
FDE with a past history of FDE to the same drug 5 months back. Since the eruption occurred in the same site on re-
exposure to the same drug, a diagnosis of FDE was made and causality assessment by Naranjo adverse drug reaction
probability scale showed a certain relationship between the cutaneous adverse reaction and the offending drug
Keywords: Fixed drug eruption, Satranidazole, Self-medication
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20205131