What should a nurse assess for when looking for an allergic reaction to the contrast medium?

my choices are noting the prescence of a hematoma in the left groin, discomfort in the left groin, stridor, or hypothermia. which one is correct?

Well first of all it depends on the type and location of contrast media... The most important might be hypotherrmia because that could be a sign of shock. If this is a PO medium for a GI study, look for an anaphylactic reaction due to constriction of airway...not one of your choices I know. If this is an IV contrast, look for redness/swelling at the site, c/o itching, dizziness, or rapid decrease in blood pressure.

Of the answers you gave me to choose from

Hematoma...definitely not.
Discomfort in the left groin......If that is where the injection site is, then possibly.
Stridor....Ipossibly due to the onset of anaphylaxis...but kind of a whacky choice...so maybe
Hypothermia.....could be a late sign, but certainly shouldn't be the answer as a nurse you should have caught it way before it gets to that point....let me look up the stridor thing and edit my answer to include it....brb

OKay back...checked emedicine.com and it didn't mention the stridor, but did mention anaphylactic reations. Of course Stridor can be heard with the onset of anaphylaxis, so this is certainly a viable choice. It is between discomfort at the site and stridor. Discomfort is way too broad and can be casued by anything from simply the viscosity or osmolality of the contrast medium, infiltration, sensitivity to infusions...so while it may be something to staqrt you looking for other s/s I would not use that as the primary tool for an allergic reaction.

So in the end....my best answer would be the stridor due to edema as the allergic reaction.