Neuromuscular blocking agents suppress central respiratory activity through their inhibitory effects on preinspiratory neurons and the synaptic drive from preinspiratory neurons to inspiratory neurons. Central CO2-chemosensitive areas, which partly consist of CO2-excited neurons, in the rostral ventrolateral medulla are thought to provide tonic drive to the central respiratory network and invol...

[This corrects the article on p. 500 in vol. 70, PMID: 29046769.].

Intensivists use neuromuscular blocking agents for a variety of clinical conditions, including for emergency intubation, acute respiratory distress syndrome, status asthmaticus, elevated intracranial pressure, elevated intra-abdominal pressure, and therapeutic hypothermia after ventricular fibrillation-associated cardiac arrest. The continued creation and use of evidence-based guidelines and pr...

OBJECTIVE The relationship between neuromuscular blocking agents and neuromuscular dysfunction acquired in critical illness remains unclear. We examined the association between neuromuscular blocking agents and ICU-acquired weakness, critical illness polyneuropathy, and critical illness myopathy. DATA SOURCES PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cumu...