Contact Information

Telephone: (08) 9346 3011

Fax: (08) 9346 4375

Email: pplatt@cyllene.uwa.edu.au

Organiser: Dr Peter Platt (Dr Peter Maddern, who commenced allergy testing, has now
resigned from Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital but still is happy to be available to give expert
advice.)

Snail mail: Department of Anaesthesia, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Verdun Street,
Nedlands, W.A. 6009 Australia

Testing

There needs to be a delay of 6 weeks after the event before testing can be performed. A detailed
history is very helpful for both planning the type of testing required and predicting the probable
causative agent.

Local anaesthetics (LA) rarely cause allergic responses. If the history suggests the event was not
a result of accidental intravascular injection then a progressive challenge to gradually
increasing doses of LA intradermally is performed.

Almost all of the drugs used for general anaesthesia are tested by using small doses of a very
dilute solution intradermally. Multiple tests can be performed at one sitting. The most common
causative agents are the muscle relaxants.

Patients are admitted to the Day Procedure Unit, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and are
permitted a light breakfast. They must not take antihistamines before testing and can expect the
procedure to take about 2 hours.

Further information or advice can be obtained from Dr Peter Platt at the above contact numbers.

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