Oral Provocation Test on the Diagnosis of Cow's Milk Protein Allergy in Children: Integrative Review

Abstract

Introduction: The cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) is considered the most prevalent food allergy in children, developing, usually, during the first three years of life and can cause gastrointestinal, respiratory and skin changes. Among the diagnostic methods used, there is the oral food challenge test. However, little used in clinical practice.Objective: Identifying the importance of Oral Provocation Test (OPT) in the diagnostic confirmation of CMPA in children.Method: An integrative review of studies of the last ten years, with six relevant articles related to the theme and used and described the OPT in children with suspected CMPA.Results: The OPT is important to confirm the diagnosis, avoiding prolonged exclusion diets, nutritional risks and unnecessary expenses. The oral test with milk can be adopted as the gold standard and used as a basis for comparative studies that aims to advance the molecular diagnosis, determining the specificities and sensitivities of such tests. It can also be used with other foods. In innovative studies to determine the tolerance of dairy foods, allowing include them in the feeding of these patients during the elimination diet.Conclusion: It is important that the OPT is performed early in the onset of symptoms suggestive of CMPA, in order to avoid prolonged exclusion diets, nutritional risks and unnecessary expenses