Contraindicated in the presence of pregnancy or acute pelvic inflammatory disease. Hysterosalpingography should not be attempted within 30 days following curettage or conization. Hypersensitivity reactions have occurred, manifested by urticaria, respiratory symptoms and circulatory collapse. Facilities for treatment of circulatory collapse and respiratory distress should be immediately available and patients should be carefully observed during performance of the examination and for at least 30 to 60 minutes thereafter. The possibility of hypersensitivity reactions to radiopaque contrast agents has promoted the use of pretesting methods, none of which can be relied upon to accurately predict severe reactions.
Many authorities question the value of any pretesting.
A history of bronchial asthma or allergy or a family history of allergy warrants special attention and may predict more accurately than pretesting the likelihood of a reaction, although neither the severity nor type of reaction in the individual case. Sensitivity testing may be carried out by slowly injecting 0.5 to 1.0 mL of the preparation into a peripheral vein after determining, in detail, the patient's allergic history. Most hypersensitivity reactions will occur within 10 minutes of injection. In some instances, reactions to the test dose may be delayed and in a few cases have been extremely severe in themselves. In extreme emergency 0.1 mL per minute, appropriately diluted may be given i.v. until desired effect obtained.