ABSTRACT
When urticaria and angioedema occur in young children, parents can become distressed and frustrated, resulting in multiple calls or visits searching for the cause, hoping to eliminate the culprit and thus curing the hives. Urticaria also can be frustrating to physicians who weigh the utility of obtaining costly laboratory tests or implementing an elimination diet, realizing that both can frequently lead to disappointing results. Although it is common to treat urticaria and angioedema symptomatically, parents are usually concerned to determine the underlying cause. In young children, there are diverse triggers and disease states that must be borne in mind when evaluating these patients. Most urticaria is acute, limited and benign in nature, but it can be chronic, a sign of a systemic disease, or part of a multisystem allergic reaction.
