What to do if you have an anesthetic resistance

Many people with allergic constitutions are resistant to anesthetics. Before taking anesthesia, people with this constitution must undergo a good examination to see if they are suitable for anesthesia injection. During a preoperative visit, the doctor will understand the patient's allergy history, including drug allergies, food allergies, and anesthesia allergies, etc. It is necessary to understand some of the inducing and alleviating factors, so as to prevent the harm caused by anesthesia.

What to do if you have an anesthetic resistance

1. During the preoperative visit, inform the anesthesiologist in detail of your allergy history (including allergies to anesthesia, drugs, food and other substances) as well as the inducing and alleviating factors so that the doctor can avoid using related drugs.

2. Do an allergy test before surgery. In fact, most anesthetics are not routinely tested for allergies before surgery. First, the incidence of allergies is low. Second, there are too many types of anesthetics that can cause allergies. Third, the allergic reactions of each anesthetic are different. For example, delayed-type allergy testing often takes a long time. Drugs that require routine preoperative testing, such as the local anesthetic procaine, are now rarely used due to their high incidence of allergic and adverse reactions. It should be noted that patients who have had an allergic reaction to anesthetics or who request allergy testing can undergo allergy testing before surgery.

What are the symptoms of allergies and how to treat them during surgery?

Under general anesthesia, the anesthesiologist can make a judgment based on the patient's blood pressure, rash, evidence of airway spasm, etc. Conscious patients may experience symptoms such as irritability, difficulty breathing, palpitations, chest tightness, low blood pressure, and even unconsciousness.

Once an allergic reaction is diagnosed, the anesthesiologist will quickly implement rescue, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, use of emergency drugs and fluid replenishment. However, allergic reactions are often severe, and some patients will miss the opportunity for rescue.

In addition, here is a related but difficult sentence: in addition to anesthesia-related drugs, substances that can cause allergic reactions during surgery include antibiotics, various fluids, blood products, and even the latex gloves on the doctor's hands!

Why do allergies occur?

The severity varies from person to person, depending on the patient's individual constitution and the type of medication. The mechanisms of allergic reactions to intoxicants are mostly:

Some people with allergies (such as soy allergy) have antibodies in their bodies that bind to specific substances (soy protein). When these substances appear in the body (soybeans or anesthetics containing soy ingredients), they will activate the immune system and cause an allergic reaction.

This type of reaction often occurs and progresses rapidly. Some patients will experience severe reactions or even life-threatening conditions, while others will only experience transient symptoms.

Therefore, the reason why most patients experience allergies is that they encounter anesthetics containing the same ingredients (or similar molecular structures) as their own allergens!

In addition, some patients may experience allergic-like reactions after taking the medicine, which is related to the drug stimulating the body to release certain special substances. It does not activate the immune system and most reactions are mild.