The mechanism of arterial hypotension induced by non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents may be multifactorial and differ between drugs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of high-dose atracurium and equivalent doses of other non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents on haemodynamic state and sympathetic nervous activity. In studies on 24 mongrel dogs anaesthetized...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Neuromuscular blocking agents have been one of the cornerstones of anaesthesia. With the advent of newer surgical, anaesthetic and neurological monitoring techniques, their utility in neuroanaesthesia practice seems dispensable. The aim of this prospective, comparative, randomised study was to determine whether neuromuscular blocking agents are required in patients undergoin...

Sugammadex sodium is a modified γ-cyclodextrin with a very high affinity for rocuronium and, to a lesser extent, vecuronium molecules. In vivo administration results in immediate encapsulation of rocuronium and vecuronium, resulting in termination of neuro- muscular blockade, usually within 3 minutes. This new neuromuscular blocking agent is specific for the aminosteroidal neuromuscular blockin...

BACKGROUND Parotid surgery is a common ear, nose, and throat procedure. Facial nerve paralysis is the main feared complication following this surgery. To avoid this paralysis, intraoperative facial nerve monitoring is often used, but neuromuscular blocking agents interfere with this technique. Therefore, the neuromuscular blocking agent used should have a short duration of muscle relaxation. Wi...

BACKGROUND Of the polymethylene bismethonium congeners (C5-C12 and C18), decamethonium (C10) is the most potent neuromuscular blocking agent. We tested the hypothesis that these congeners act as straight molecules and will not bend easily in spite of the flexible connecting chain between the methonium heads. For congeners higher than C10, we also hypothesized that the relative difficulty with w...

A. J. Aho 1,2*, L.-P. Lyytikäinen 3, A. Yli-Hankala 1,2, K. Kamata 1 and V. Jäntti 3,4,5 1 Department of Anaesthesia, Tampere University Hospital, PO Box 2000, 33521 Tampere, Finland 2 University of Tampere, Medical School, Tampere, Finland 3 Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Medical Imaging Centre, Pirkanmaa Hospital District, Tampere, Finland 4 Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Se...

Editor—We read with great interest the article by Nitahara and colleagues showing concentration-dependent inhibitory effects of sevoflurane on neuromuscular transmission in myasthenia gravis (MG) patients which was more prominent in patients with a pre-anaesthetic T4/T1,0.9. In their study, T4/T1 returned to baseline value in all patients at the end of anaesthesia. The importance of monitoring ...

Dose-response curves for blockade of the indirectly elicited twitch of isolated guineapig nerve-lumbrical muscle preparations were determined for tubocurarine and pancuronium in the presence of potassium 2,4 and 6 mmol litre-1 and calcium 1,2 and 3 mmol litre-1. Increases in concentration of either ion decreased the sensitivity of the preparation to both drugs. Over the physiological range of c...

During routine adult anesthesia, the risk of awareness is 0.1%-0.2%. No recent studies have reported the incidence in children. Altered pharmacology and differing anesthesia techniques suggest that the incidence may differ in children. In this prospective cohort study, we determined the incidence of awareness during anesthesia in children. Eight-hundred-sixty-four children aged 5-12 yr who had ...