The allergic reaction to intravenous induction agents.

There is an increasing awareness of adverse drug reactions and particularly those relating to anaesthesia and surgery where a wide variety of substances may be administered intravenously. The intravenous route offers considerable therapeutic and diagnostic advantage to the clinician. With pharmacologically active drugs the route avoids drug deactivation by digestive enzymes and first-pass hepatic metabolism. With large volumes of fluids, electrolytes, blood, blood fractions and their substitutes it is the only possible way of administration.