As valuable as the formal presentations are the informal and thoughtprovoking discussions which are well reported in the published proceedings. The booklet will be rewarding reading for those interested in the mode of action of neuromuscular blocking agents. In addition, the consideration given to drug receptor interaction, although naturally applied to the curare receptor, should prove very us...

background: a variety of techniques for the management of spasticity have been suggested, including positioning, cryotherapy, splinting and casting, biofeedback, electrical stimulation, and medical management by pharmacological agents, botulinum toxin a (bta) is now the pharmacological treatment of choice in focal spasticity. bta by blocking acetylcholine release at neuromuscular junctions acco...

We have compared the effects of two different frequencies of train-of-four stimulation of the ulnar nerve (2-Hz stimulation once every 10 or 20 s) on onset time and potency of atracurium, vecuronium and mivacurium during balanced anaesthesia. The adductor pollicis EMG was recorded simultaneously in both hands of 24 children aged 2-12 yr. After administration of an ED50 dose of each blocker, ons...

The approach to airway management in the multiple trauma patient has changed significantly over the past decade. A number of central controversies have been identified, and the debates continue. This article identifies the major controversies in trauma airway management, reviews and summarizes relevant literature, and presents specific recommendations and supporting arguments. Particular emphas...

We describe a sero-negative ocular myasthenic patient who showed exaggerated responses to both vecuronium and neostigmine. These hypersensitive responses were not anticipated because preoperative clinical and laboratory evaluations suggested a negligible impairment of somatic muscles by myasthenic processes. This case report re-emphasizes that, if neuromuscular blocking agents and their antagon...

The characteristics of train-of-four recovery after atracurium or vecuronium were studied, under enflurane anaesthesia, and compared with those associated with tubocurarine-induced blockade. Ten patients each received vecuronium 0.1 mg kg-1, atracurium 0.5 mg kg-1 or tubocurarine 0.5 mg kg-1. Neuromuscular blockade was calculated as the percent depression of the first twitch, and was determined...

W ITH perhaps one exception, decamethonium has been the parent of the main neuromuscular blocking agents introduced, since its discovery, for clinical trial as muscle-relaxants. Its descendants (see fig. 1) include suxamethonium (succinylcholine), suxethonium (362 I.S.), Ro 3-0386 and Laudolissin. The exception (fig. 2) is benzoquinonium (Mytolon), which was derived from an experimental anti-ba...