Anaphylaxis or suspected anaesthesia and drug allergies cause iatrogenic harm during anaesthesia in adults and children. Any patient who has suffered a suspected allergic reaction during surgery should be referred for investigation at a specialist allergy clinic. This includes not just cases of life-threatening anaphylaxis, but also cases where lower grades of reaction are suspected to have occurred.
At RNSH an Perioperative Allergy Clinic was established in the 1980’s. It provides collaborative care from anaesthetists and immunologists, focusing on investigations and planning for future anaesthesia with detailed reports and recommendations to support continuity of optimal care.
This clinic receives local and state referrals which require ongoing coordination of appointments for patients via tele-health, face to face for skin testing and/or intravenous challenge testing. This crucial service is supported to assure service to patients and their families, provides clinical leadership and expertise in the management, and promotes best practice in clinical care, research, data collection and analysis and education in suspected Perioperative Hypersensitivity.