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A review of perioperative anaphylaxis at a Singapore tertiary hospital
Xuanxuan Chen1, Sze Ying Thong1, Yong Yeow Chong2
1Department of Anaesthesiology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
Introduction:
Perioperative anaphylaxis is an anaesthetic emergency, but its incidence is not well described in the local literature. This retrospective study aims to look at a group of patients who had perioperative anaphylaxis in our institution.
Methods:
We conducted a retrospective review of electronic databases and clinical case sheets, and identified 34 patients who had possible perioperative anaphylaxis during anaesthesia in our institution between 1 January 2007 and 30 April 2012.
Results:
After reviewing clinical and biochemical data, we found that 16 out of 151,876 patients who underwent surgery had confirmed perioperative anaphylaxis, an incidence of 1:10,000. Neuromuscular blockers were identified as the most common causative agent for perioperative anaphylaxis. The offending agent could not be identified in seven patients.
Conclusion:
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in Southeast Asia on the incidence of perioperative anaphylaxis. Having a preoperative history of allergy did not seem to predispose patients to the subsequent development of perioperative anaphylaxis.