OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of priming atracurium over onset time and intubating time of general anesthesia between different genders. METHODOLOGY Sixty-six male and sixty-four female patients, ASA I-II, aged 18-65 years, were randomly divided into four groups: group M1: male patients with saline priming; group M2: male patients with priming atracurium dose of 0.05 mg/kg; group F1: femal...

BACKGROUND A drug shortage of cisatracurium led to use of atracurium as an alternative neuromuscular blocker (NMB). Cisatracurium may be preferred due to less histamine release and potentially less hypotension. The study purpose is to compare the incidence of hypotension with continuous infusion atracurium to continuous infusion cisatracurium in ICU patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS This retros...

The 'Priming principle' applied to non-depolarizing muscle relaxant atracurium was studied in 60 patients. This was a double blind study. The conditions observed for intubation were graded and the efficacy of priming dose of atracurium for shortening the onset time of intubation was studied. The patients were of ASA classification I and II and received standard premedication. The purpose of the...

The degradation of atracurium and the formation of laudanosine was examined in vitro in both Sorensen buffer and human plasma using sensitive, specific high pressure liquid chromatographic assays to determine drug concentrations. At normal physiological pH and temperature, the degradation of atracurium was threefold more rapid in plasma than in buffer. Laudanosine is the major end-product of at...

The potencies of atracurium, vecuronium and pancuronium were compared using bolus injections and continuous infusions. The sizes of the bolus injections were based on previously determined cumulative dose-response relationships. Dose requirements for 90% and 50% sustained blockade were estimated by use of continuous infusion, and the corresponding plasma concentrations were measured for vecuron...

Atracurium was administered by infusion to 12 anaesthetized patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and induced hypothermia. Following an initial bolus dose of 0.6 mg kg-1, an infusion of atracurium was continued at an average rate of 0.0066 +/- 0.0003 mg kg-1 min-1 (0.4 mg kg-1 h-1) which was sufficient to maintain 90-95% block of the single twitch or train-of-four resp...

CORRESPONDENCE ATRACURIUM OR VECURONIUM FOR MHS PATIENTS? Sir,—I am writing in regard to comments made by Hunter [1] in her review entitled "Adverse Effects of Neuromuscular Blocking Drugs ", on the use of vecuronium and atracurium in malignant hyperthermia-susceptible (MHS) patients. She states that "satisfactory use of both agents has been reported in patients susceptible to malignant hyperpy...

The authors compare the effect of two muscle relaxants, atracurium and pancuronium, on the bradycardia resulting from the oculocardiac reflex during eye surgery for strabismus in children. Two groups, each composed of 15 children, received either pancuronium or atracurium during strabismus operations. Heart rate and rhythm were observed at several points during the operations, and the changes t...

The potential role of atracurium besylate as a trigger or attenuator of the malignant hyperthermia syndrome was tested in six MHS Landrace swine. Animals were tested for susceptibility and then exposed to atracurium given as an i.v. bolus both alone and concomitantly with 2% halothane. In no instance could the syndrome be triggered by atracurium nor did it convincingly attenuate the syndrome wh...

Laryngeal mask is a supraglothic instrument for ventilation of patients who are under anesthesia. Insertion of laryngeal mask requires maintaining sufficient depth of anesthesia to avoid airway reflex (gagging, coughing and spasms). The present study investigated two techniques of anesthesia with propofol-atracurium and thiopental-atracurium to facilitate insertion of the laryngeal mask, term o...