Allergic reactions to propofol in adult patients with egg or soybean allergy: a retrospective cohort study from a large database of a single institute

BACKGROUND: In recent years, many reports have indicated that propofol is safe to administer to patients with egg/soybean allergy in Western countries. Egg allergy is more frequent in Asia, but there are limited reports regarding allergic reactions to propofol use among adults. This study aimed to determine whether propofol causes allergic reactions in patients with egg/soybean allergy. METHODS: Adult patients who underwent surgery involving anesthesiologists from 2018 to 2021 were included. In all patients, we reviewed food allergy information in their electronic medical record and extracted anesthetics. Patients with egg/soybean allergy were subdivided into two groups on the basis of intraoperative use of propofol. We evaluated each group for allergic reactions within 24 h after the induction of anesthesia. The primary outcome was a relative risk of allergic reactions after propofol use for patients with egg/soybean allergy. RESULTS: In total, 22,111 patients with 28,710 anesthesia records were identified. Among patients with egg/soybean allergy, 173 (0.8%) patients and 237 (0.8%) anesthesia records were included in the study. Among the records of egg-/soybean-allergic patients, 151 were administered propofol, and 86 were not. The relative risk of allergic reactions after propofol use for patients with egg/soybean allergy was 1.14 (95% confidence interval, 0.10–12.4; p = 0.74). CONCLUSION: The use of propofol in patients with egg/soybean allergy does not significantly increase the relative risk of allergic reactions. Therefore, anesthesiologists can appropriately determine the indication for propofol, even in patients with egg/soybean allergy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN-CTN, UMIN000049321 registered 26 October 2022 — retrospectively registered, https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000056167 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40981-022-00591-8.