בשל "הגנת זכויות יוצרים" מובא להלן קישור לתקציר המאמר. לקריאתו בטקסט מלא, אנא פנה/י לספרייה הרפואית הזמינה לך. 

With deaths attributable to anaesthesia estimated to range from 1:125 000 to 1:180 000 anaesthetics, there has been focus on the development of safety management systems to prevent avoidable deaths.

If we want to continue to improve anaesthesia outcomes and safety, then we must also focus on the diagnosis and treatment of rare, but potentially life-threatening perioperative events that account for an increasing proportion of adverse outcomes.

In this regard, immediate hypersensitivity reactions remain a major concern for anaesthesiologists with a mortality of ∼4%.

In this issue of the British Journal of Anaesthesia, Elst and colleagues provide proof of concept for the application of mast cell activation tests in drug allergy testing.

To appreciate the relevance of this interesting development, it is important to understand the limitations of currently available tests for drug allergy, especially in the context of suspected perioperative drug allergy.