Healio reported on new research from HSS that finds patients who reported an iodine-related allergy prior to total joint arthroplasty did not experience a hypersensitivity reaction if they received an iodine-based product during surgery. 

Matthew S. Austin, MD, hip and knee replacement surgeon at HSS, told Healio about results presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting. “This study sheds light on the fact that if someone says they have an allergy to an iodine-related product one should not automatically avoid its use,” he said. Dr. Austin and colleagues retrospectively reviewed data from 3,696 patients who reported an allergy to iodine, iodine-containing products or shellfish who either did (n = 1,378) or did not (n = 2,318) receive an iodine-based product during primary TJA. 

“Instead of a blanket policy of if a patient says they have an allergy to an iodine-based product, they cannot receive any iodine-based product, institutions can have a protocol in place where you look at the patient’s history,” Dr. Austin continued. “What is the patient saying the reaction was? How severe was the reaction? How far in the past? Have they safely received an iodine-related product in the interim since they discovered they had this allergy? Putting appropriate pathways and protocols in place will allow many patients to receive an iodine-based product, which may reduce their risk for having an infection from the procedure.”

Read the full article at healio.com.