Anesthesia allergy is a rare but serious reaction that can happen during surgery.
During surgery, these signs can be harder to spot because patients are unconscious and covered by drapes.
When someone experiences anesthesia allergy, they will be tested by an allergist afterward to pinpoint the trigger.
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This will help prevent another reaction in the future.
Additionally, other common anaphylaxis symptoms, like hives and flushing, may not appear.
For mild to moderate symptoms, a small amount of epinephrine is given intravenously.
If the patients blood pressure drops severely, a higher dose of epinephrine is used to help stabilize them.
If the airways swell, epinephrine and other medications likecorticosteroidsare used to reduce the swelling.
After the allergic reaction is treated, confirmatory tests are important to find out what caused the reaction.
Blood tests to check mast cell tryptase levels help doctors understand if it was truly anaphylaxis.
Skin testing is done later to identify the specific allergen, which helps prevent future reactions.
Nonallergic Reactions to Anesthesia
Anesthesia can cause unpleasant and occasionally serious side effects.
It’s essential to understand that those side effects are not the same as an allergic reaction.
General Side Effects
General side effects of anesthesia are temporary and usually resolve within 24 hours.
Symptoms can include:
Immediate treatment and discontinuation of anesthetic medication for malignant hyperthermia is essential.
Under normal circumstances, the medications are broken down very quickly, usually within a few minutes.
These patients may require mechanical ventilation to help them breathe until the drugs have metabolized.
Identifying risks before surgery will help your provider plan accordingly and be alert to potential allergic reactions.
Allergic reactions to anesthetics can occur, though they are very rare.
Anaphylactic shock is possible and requires immediate medical attention.
2017 Dec;29(4):778-786.
2024 Apr;12(4):e5734.
doi:10.1097/GOX.0000000000005734
American Society of Anesthesiologists.Effect of anesthesia.
