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Allergic Reactions to Drugs pp 259–275Cite as

General and Local Anaesthetics

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Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 63))

Abstract

In the ensuing discussion attention will be given to acute adverse effects of those agents which are used for the induction of general anaesthesia by the intravenous (i. v.) route. The term “hypersensitivity reactions” is used in preference to “allergic reactions”, contrary to the need for more precise definitions. With certain intravenous anaesthetics, e. g. thiopentone, such reactions are nearly always due to allergy but with other i. v. induction agents such as steroid anaesthetics and eugenols only a proportion (around 50% with both groups) of the reactions appear to be allergic in nature, the remainder being due to direct histamine release or some other mechanism not involving a specific immune response to the drug. It is often impossible to distinguish between truly allergic reactions and reactions of the latter type, particularly between true anaphylaxis (mediated by anaphylactic, drug-specific antibodies) and anaphylactoid reactions, where chemical mediators such as histamine are released as a result of a different abnormality (idiosyncrasy).

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Authors
  1. E. S. K. Assem
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für klinische Immunologie, Inselspital, CH-3010, Bern, Switzerland

    Alain L. de Weck

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry AD, The Royal Danish School of Pharmacy, 2, Universitetsparken, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Hans Bundgaard

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© 1983 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Assem, E.S.K. (1983). General and Local Anaesthetics. In: de Weck, A.L., Bundgaard, H. (eds) Allergic Reactions to Drugs. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 63. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69088-4_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69088-4_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-69090-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-69088-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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