Safety Evaluation of an Expedited Omalizumab Home Self-Administration Pathway (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND The Northern Ireland Regional Immunology Service (NIRIS) has developed an expedited omalizumab home self-administration pathway to reduce face-to-face clinic attendance during the COVID19 pandemic. This audit evaluates the safety of this pathway with a particular focus on anaphylaxis. OBJECTIVE To retrospectively audit the records of 39 patient undertaking expedited home self-administration at NIRIS for complications, particularly Emergency Department attendance for anaphylaxis. The target was for 100% of patients to complete a six-month course without experiencing anaphylaxis related to omalizumab administration. METHODS 39 records of patients who underwent expedited omalizumab self-administration were audited by a single reviewer. They were prospectively collected between March 2020 and August 2021. Clinical data was collected from the Northern Ireland Electronic Care Record (NIECR). RESULTS 100% of patients were in the process of completing or had completed a six-dose course without anaphylaxis. 7.6% of patients attended the Emergency Department during their course of omalizumab. 0% experienced anaphylaxis triggered by omalizumab. The target of 100% patients completing the expedited pathway without omalizumab-related anaphylaxis was met. CONCLUSIONS The expedited omalizumab home self-administration pathway is safe and may become the standard of care post-pandemic.