The safety of rush immunotherapy in the management of canine atopic dermatitis-230 cases.

BACKGROUND: The duration of the induction phase of allergen-specific immunotherapy conventionally is a period of several weeks, during which the volume of an allergen solution, administered by injection, is gradually increased until the maintenance dose is reached. In rush immunotherapy (RIT), the induction period is abbreviated to achieve a faster improvement in clinical signs of atopic dermatitis (AD) compared to conventional immunotherapy. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the safety of RIT in 230 dogs with AD and report any adverse effects (AE). ANIMALS: Two hundred thirty client-owned dogs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records of dogs receiving RIT between 2012 and 2021 were analysed and observed AE were investigated. All dogs underwent RIT following a protocol of subcutaneous allergen extract injections, given hourly with an incrementally increasing volume from 0.1 to 1.0 mL. RESULTS: Adverse effects were documented in 6 of 230 (2.6%) dogs. Five of these dogs (2.2%) showed mild gastrointestinal signs (1 of 5 vomiting, 4 of 5 diarrhoea) and one patient an increase in body temperature by 1.5°C. These occurred at different stages of the RIT protocol. All AE were graded as mild and self-limiting. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Based on these data, supervised RIT in dogs appears to be a safe procedure to achieve the maintenance dose of allergen immunotherapy earlier with infrequent and mild AE.