A review of perioperative anaphylaxis at a Singapore tertiary hospital

ABSTRACT

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>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.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>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.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>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.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>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.</p>