Case scenario: residual curarization in diabetic polyneuropathy.

474 February 2014 P OSTOPERATIVE residual curarization is common after the use of muscle relaxants and may compromise patient outcome after general anesthesia.1–3 The incidence of postoperative residual curarization can be reduced by adequate neuromuscular block reversal and quantitative neuromuscular monitoring.4,5 However, in patients with severe pathologies of the peripheral nervous system, quantitative neuromuscular monitoring may become so difficult6 that standard monitoring techniques may fail, particularly when the anesthesiologist is oblivious to the concomitant disease. This case scenario should help the clinician to recognize the pitfalls of electrical nerve stimulation and to overcome the situation of poor stimulation success.