Latex allergy in neurosurgical practice

The possibility of latex allergy and the implications of the potential life-threatening allergic reactions among patients (for example those with spina bifida), health care professionals, and latex industry workers are discussed. Latex allergy is becoming increasingly widespread in medical and surgical practice. Although early reports of latex allergy date from 1927, only over the last decade has more attention been paid to this condition. This is due to an increasing number of reported cases of adverse reactions to latex, varying in severity from mild to fatal. Latex allergy has become a major problem in children with spina bifida, who need to undergo many major aggressive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Risk groups have been identified and include patients having multiple surgical procedures, such as those with spina bifida. In this review we aim to emphasise some aspects of the current management of surgical patients with latex allergy.