By Kate Johnson
SAN ANTONIO — Allergists are frustrated by the lack of consensus in the surgical community about metal hypersensitivity in patients in need of a surgical implant, new research indicates.
“Most of the specialists in our survey acknowledged a causative role for metal allergy in adverse patient outcomes among those receiving implanted devices,” said investigator Christopher Leonard, MD, from University of Arkansas Medical School in Fayetteville. However, “some people don’t believe this is real.” 
“Our results mirror what has been seen in the literature for the past few decades, which is a lack of consensus and agreed-upon protocol for managing these patients,” he explained.
Dr Leonard and his coinvestigator, Curtis Hedberg, MD, from the Hedberg Allergy & Asthma Center in Rogers, Arkansas, presented the survey results here at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 2015 Annual Scientific Meeting.