intradermal test

Other types of skin tests include patch testing and intradermal testing.

The three main types of skin tests are the scratch test, intradermal test, and the patch test.

Intradermal test.

Class of test: Intradermal test: Diluted extract of allergen is injected into skin.

Hypersensitivity to hydrocortisone has been well documented, and intradermal testing was thought to have a role in predicting safe administration of an alternative steroid.

The intradermal test is more sensitive than the skin prick test but is more often positive in people who do not have symptoms to that allergen (false-positive test results).

Sensitivity to dexamethasone was suggested by the fact that the adverse reaction stopped on withdrawal of the drug, although an intradermal test to dexamethasone sodium phosphate gave a negative result.

Nagar R, Pande S, Khopkar U. Intradermal tests in dermatology-I: Tests for infectious diseases.

Whether this actually demonstrates anything is debatable - we all have antibodies to Candida because we are exposed to it from birth, and a positive response to an intradermal test is seen in some healthy individuals.

Other patients give a negative skin-prick test but respond positively to an intradermal test (see p 288), which is more 'sensitive' because it uses more antigen and places it in a deeper layer of the skin.

In 1908 he presented his first study of intradermal injections to the French Academy of Sciences and published this work in 1910, and in the following years the intradermal test replaced the subcutaneous test (Pirquet test).