Perioperative drug allergy (PDA) is a significant problem in surgical practice, but few studies in the literature fully address this problem. In our pilot study, which included 569 patients treated in the surgical department, 44 patients (7.7%), with an average age of 52.52±1.87 years, met the inclusion criteria; 26 (59.1%) of them were female. Drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs) were initially reported in 34 patients (5.98%), and DHRs developed during the hospital stay in 13 patients (2.3%). The most common reactions were to antibiotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and local anaesthetics. A total of 26.5% of patients with a history could not name the specific medicines that caused certain reactions in the past but indicated the drug groups. This suggests that the level of inaccuracy in DHR recordings upon hospital admission is relatively high. A total of 23.1% of patients with hospital reactions did not initially report past reactions but remembered them after the reaction occurred. Obviously, the number of patients with reactions during anamnesis is significantly greater than previously reported. To prevent severe complications, a medical history should be carefully collected, polypharmacy should be avoided, drug cross-reactivity should be considered, and drug tests should be conducted in patients at increased risk. In emergencies, when testing is impossible, one should rely on the patient’s history and use alternative drugs. The pilot study confirmed the necessity of a multicenter study and a national electronic registry. This will enhance the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of DHRs in surgical practice, ultimately improving the quality of medical care.
Kalikyan et al. (Mon,) studied this question.