Heartbeat: Drug allergy could just be ‘side effect’

September 12, 2018

Less than 1 in 10 patients who report a penicillin allergy actually have one when tested by specialists, research has shown.

Now a team from our organisation have joined a national study ‘DALES’ (Drug Allergy Labels in the Elective Surgical population), that evaluates how drug allergies are documented before surgery – in order to determine whether a reaction is in fact a side effect. The team has recruited 150 patients to the DALES project and has been praised by the study organisers – the Research and Audit Federation of Trainees.

Julia Blackburn, Anaesthetic Registrar, explained: “We are very proud to be part of this important national research study.

“Currently, any patient reporting allergy to penicillin is given an alternative antibiotic. This alternative may be associated with higher incidence of side effects, less cost effective and can lead to an increase in ‘superbugs’ such as MRSA, a group of bacteria that is responsible for difficult-to-treat infections.

“However, the reality is that in a significant majority of patients, the allergy is in fact a minor side effect which means that the medication need not be withheld.

“These are different concepts and they have significant implications on how we prescribe medications. For example, more than 90 per cent of patients who report that they have an allergic reaction to penicillin do not have a true allergy when tested in a specialist clinic.

“The results will provide a useful insight into how drug allergies are reported and documented, and improve the way in which clinicians record reactions – ensuring that patients ultimately receive the optimal medication.

“This was a fantastic opportunity to work together as a wider multidisciplinary team. Many thanks to all who contributed to the study, including the R&D team, data collectors including research nurses, midwives and anaesthetists, co-trainee lead Dr Melanie Sahni, Principal Investigator Dr Santhana Kannan, and of course the patients for their participation.”

Research Nurse Ashley Turner added: “We are delighted to be able to recruit such a high number of patients for this study within two weeks.
“It is a fantastic outcome. Patients were very positive and forthcoming when asked to be part of the study.”

There are 270 centres across the UK that are taking part in the project.
It is being sponsored by the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust with the results published next year.

For more information visit https://www.raftrainees.com/project-summary.html.