BACKGROUND The need for the routine use of muscle relaxants to provide an adequate surgical field for intraabdominal surgery has not been established. This study tested the hypothesis that vecuronium decreases the frequency of unacceptable operating conditions for patients undergoing radical retropubic prostatectomy who are anesthetized with isoflurane and fentanyl. METHODS After obtaining in...

Case A 74-year-old man developed tetanus 3 days after working with cow and poultry manure. Kakkonto and shakuyakukanzoto, traditional Japanese herbal medicines that are effective for the relief of pain primarily related to muscle contraction, were given to control the trismus and painful contracture of the neck. Generalized convulsions were controlled without the use of muscle relaxants. Outc...

Available reports suggest that an anterior mediastinal mass causing more than 50% narrowing of the trachea and compressing the great vessels can cause further narrowing of the airway and cardiovascular collapse after the administration of muscle relaxants. Accordingly, inhalation induction of general anesthesia or awake intubation is used to avoid the use of muscle relaxation. The following two...

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a phenomenon denied by Collins1 in 1976, but supported in later studies by Wehner 2 in 1979 and Lewis8 in 1982. The phenomenon is potentiation of the muscle relaxing action of succinylcholine by the neuroleptanesthesia agent Innovar,® as measured with a peripheral nerve stimulator. The two types of muscle relaxants used are non-depolarizing and depola...