The effect of low dose rocuronium on intraocular pressure in laryngeal mask airway usage.

BACKGROUND We have compared the effect of low dose rocuronium on intraocular pressure (IOP) in larygeal mask airway usage during induction of anesthesia using propofol and fentanyl, in a randomized, double-blind study. METHOD We studied 30 patients randomly allocated to one of two groups. Anesthesia was induced with fentanyl 1 mg kg(-1) and propofol 2 mg kg(-1) until loss of eyelash reflex. This was followed by rocuronium 0,3 mg kg(-1) (group R, n = 15) and normal saline (group S, n = 15). IOP was measured with Schiotz tonometry device preoperatively (IOP(pre)) and after propofol infection (IOP(0)) and immediately after LMA insertion (IOP(1)), 1. (IOP(2)), 2. (IOP(3)), 3. (IOP(4)), 4. (IOP(5)) and 15. (IOP(15)) minutes after laryngeal mask airway (LMA) insertion and after extubation (IOP(ext)). The collected data were heart rate (HR), oxygen saturation (SpO(2)), end-tidal carbon-dioxide pressure (ETCO(2)) and mean arterial pressure (MAP). RESULTS After LMA insertion significant decrease was found in IOP in both groups. No significant difference was found between groups. CONCLUSION Although there have been reports that LMA insertion minimally increases IOP, in our study, by using low dose rocuronium and LMA there was a decrease in IOP.