Peer Reviewed
Practical procedures

Guidelines for performing a skin prick test

Robert J Heddle, Billy Tao
Abstract
Increasingly GPs are performing skin prick tests themselves. This is a brief guide to the procedure of skin prick testing and the interpretation of results.
Key Points

    The skin prick test is a highly sensitive and generally well tolerated technique for detecting the presence of IgE-dependent immediate reactivity to protein or peptide allergens. It is the gold standard test for determining reactivity to aeroallergens and food proteins, but it is not relevant to the testing of low molecular weight chemical substances (such as food additives or volatile environmental pollutants) or delayed food reactions.

Get full access
Subscribe for full access to all articles
Buy this article

Single article purchases are temporarily unavailable due to site maintenance.

If you would like to purchase an article during this time, please email us at [email protected] with the article details and we'll assist you directly. We'll also let you know when online purchasing is available again.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Already a subscriber?