Approaches of Surgical and Internal Branch Resident Physicians to Anaphylaxis

Abstract

Aim:The aim of this study is to evaluate the level of knowledge about anaphylaxis among resident physicians working in a tertiary care hospital in Istanbul. Materyal and Methods:Our descriptive study was conducted with resident physicians working in a tertiary hospital in Istanbul.A questionnaire including questions about the diagnosis and treatment of anaphylaxis was administered to physicians. Results:172 resident physicians were surveyed within the scope of the study.While 47.0% (n=79) of the physicians were internal medicine residents, 53.0%(n=89) were surgical medicine residents. In terms of duration of employment in the profession, 76.2% (n=131) had a working period of 5 years or less.Median age was 29.0 years; minimum age was 25.0 years and maximum age was 53.0 years.All resident physicians felt that anaphylaxis could be life-threatening.The rate of those who correctly knew the clinical criteria for the diagnosis of anaphylaxis was 63.4% (n=109).The rate of those who knew that adrenaline was the first-line drug in the treatment of anaphylaxis was 95.9% (n=165).While 86.6% (n=149) of the physicians answered that adrenaline was administered intramuscularly, 70.0% (n=119) correctly answered the dose of adrenaline and 76.0% (n=130) correctly answered the name of the muscle where adrenaline was administered.The proportion of physicians who stated that anaphylaxis patients should be followed up for 24 to 72 hours was significantly higher in surgical branches (82.0%; n=73) than in internal branches (68.4%; n=54) (p