[Effect of ketotifen in urticaria factitia and urticaria cholinergica in a crossover double-blind trial].

Forty patients with urticaria, 13 with cholinergic urticaria, 22 with urticaria factitia, and 5 with both types of urticaria, were treated with ketotifen or placebo in a double-blind crossover study. Five patients dropped out, one because of excessive weight gain. In 23 of 24 patients with urticaria factitia, ketotifen caused a marked reduction of wealing and pruritus. In contrast, only 62% of the patients with cholinergic urticaria noticed a reduction of wealing, and 69% had reduced itching. Ketotifen caused few side effects, the most frequent one being mild tiredness in 9% of the patients. The beneficial effect of ketotifen in urticaria factitia and cholinergic urticaria may be due to its ability to reduce the liberation and the effectiveness of mast cell mediators.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes