Anaphylaxis during general anaesthesia: experience from a drug allergy centre in the UK.

BACKGROUND: Anaphylaxis during general anaesthesia is rare but often severe. Identification of the cause of anaphylaxis and recommendation of a range of drugs or agents likely to be safer for future surgery is a collaborative venture between the allergists and the anaesthesiologists, but it often poses a significant challenge. METHODS: A total of 31 patients who attended the Drug Allergy Unit at University College London Hospital with suspected perioperative anaphylaxis between March 2013 and January 2016 were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: The culprit drug was identified in 21 patients (67.7%): antibiotics (n = 11, 52.3%), neuromuscular blocking agents (n = 8, 38.1%), morphine (n = 1, 4.8%) and gelofusine (n = 1, 4.8%). No cause was identified in six patients (19.4%), and four patients (12.9%) had non-allergic reactions. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm that antibiotics and neuromuscular blocking agents are common causative agents of perioperative anaphylaxis in the United Kingdom.

The changing role of radiotherapy in AIDS-related malignancies.

OBJECTIVE: To review the current literature on the role of radiotherapy in AIDS-related malignancies published since 1997. METHODS: A comprehensive literature review was undertaken to review the recent advances in the role of radiotherapy in the management of AIDS-related malignancies. This was combined with the clinical experience from our two London treatment centres for AIDS-related malignancies. A Medline/Pubmed search was performed for articles published since 1997, the year of the previous review, which also coincides with the widespread usage of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART). The MESH search terms used were 'HIV or AIDS' and 'radiotherapy'. This search yielded a total of 86 references. CONCLUSIONS: HAART has had a major impact on the role of radiotherapy in AIDS-related malignancy. The use of HAART has led to a decline in the incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and has been associated with an improved prognosis in systemic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in people with HIV. In addition HAART alone has been successfully used as therapy for early KS lesions. Chemoradiotherapy remains the mainstay of management for anal cancer, has a central role in cervical cancer and non-AIDS defining malignancies in this population.

Anaphylaxis during general anaesthesia: one-year survey from a British allergy clinic.

INTRODUCTION: Anaphylaxis during general anaesthesia is a major concern. Early recognition and management of anaphylaxis, as well as its future prevention, remain a challenge for the anaesthetists, while for the allergists, the elucidation of the causal agents may be difficult. We aimed to describe our experience in our drug allergy clinic. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 23 consecutive adult patients who presented with anaphylaxis during anaesthesia from March 1, 2005 to February 28, 2006. RESULTS: Out of the 23 patients (12 females, 11 males) with mean age (+/- SD) of 53.1 +/- 15.8 years, 15 patients were found to have a positive skin test to at least one neuromuscular blocking agent (NMBA); all of them showed cross-sensitivity with one or more NMBA(s). Three patients had a positive skin test to opioids, two patients to gelofusine, two patients to penicillin, and one patient each to povidone-iodine and chlorhexidine. Two patients had negative test results to agents used during their anaesthesia. Four patients had double positive skin tests to different families of drugs/agents. 18 patients had severe reaction-grade 3, and 15 of them tested positive for NMBA(s). Serum tryptase levels were known in nine patients. We did not encounter any latex or hypnotics sensitisation. CONCLUSION: NMBA was the commonest cause of anaphylaxis during general anaesthesia, occurring in 65% in our series.