General anaesthesia for patients with a history of a contrast medium-induced anaphylaxis: a useful prophylaxis?

Ingrid Boehm, Knud Nairz, John Morelli, Patricia Silva Hasembank Keller, Johannes Thomas Heverhagen
2017 British Journal of Radiology  
Contrast-enhanced radiological examinations are important diagnostic tools in modern medicine. Currently, all approved and available iodinated and gadolinium-based contrast agents are safe and well-tolerated by most patients. However, approximately 2% of patients receiving iodinated contrast media exhibit hypersensitivity reactions. Patients with a history of such a reaction are at increased risk upon reexposure. Therefore, they are subjected to a prophylaxis such as injection of antiallergy
more » ... gs or general anaesthesia. The latter procedure is expensive, can burden the patients organism, and besides lacks objective verification. Therefore, the purpose of our review paper is to present and discuss the background and the previous practice, as well as to provide a proposal for a safe individual patient management. Heverhagen JT. General anaesthesia for patients with a history of a contrast medium-induced anaphylaxis: a useful prophylaxis?. Br J Radiol 2017; 90: 20160647.
doi:10.1259/bjr.20160647 pmid:28876979 fatcat:u2tbgw63bzdhtclc6n74m3duha