Frequency of atopy, allergy, and previous general anaesthesia in surgical specialties.

This paper reports part of a large survey of atopy, allergy, and previous anaesthesia in 10 000 preanaesthetic patients. The occurrence of these risk factors in the various surgical specialties has been assessed. Obstetric patients have a significantly higher frequency of atopy and allergy than the total female population studied. Among males cardiothoracic patients are the only group to have a significantly higher frequency of atopy and allergy than the overall figure for their sex.