In searching for the 'ideal' muscle relaxant for use with intravenous regional anaesthesia, muscle relaxation was assessed with and without the addition of Atracurium to Bier's Block in four volunteers. This was followed by a clinical study of 36 patients with wrist fractures to confirm the drug's safety and examine the possible clinical advantages of using a muscle relaxant. The addition of 2 ...

introduction: cataract is an opacified lens and senile cataract is a common disorder. it is desirable to reduce intraocular pressure (iop) in order to minimize intra and post operative difficulties and complications. many researches have studied the effects of muscle relaxants on iop. comparison effect of atracurium and pancuronium on iop has been evaluated in one study with a small sample size...

BACKGROUND Curaremimetic nondepolarizing muscle relaxants are widely used in clinical practice to prevent muscle contraction either during surgery or during intensive care. Although primarily acting at the neuromuscular junction, these compounds can cause adverse effects, including modification of cardiac rhythm, arterial blood pressure, and in the worst cases, triggering of seizures. In this s...

Sir We are grateful for the opportunity to reply to your correspondent. If no less an authority than Professor J. M. Hunter can write a sentence beginning 'With the advent of the two new non-depolarizing muscle relaxants, atracurium and vecurionium . . .' (Hunter, 1987), we feel we may use the same expression. Ethical committee approval for the addition of atracurium to Bier's blocks was obtain...

We have studied the effect of prior administration of non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking drugs on suxamethonium-induced increases in masseter muscle tension in 21 children aged 3-10 yr, anaesthetized with nitrous oxide and halothane using supramaximal stimulation of the ulnar nerve and the nerve to masseter. Resting tension and isometric force of contraction were measured in the adductor p...

BACKGROUND Recent reports indicate increased incidence of Clostridium botulinum infections, particularly among drug abusers and tissue allograft recipients. Botulinum toxin also has potential application in biochemical warfare. The neurotoxin-induced paralysis often requires mechanical ventilation with and without muscle relaxants. The authors investigated the long-term effects of botulinum tox...

Infusion rates for atracurium were calculated from multiple bolus injection data for normothermic (38 degrees C; n = 4) and hyperthermic (42 degrees C; n = 14) dogs anesthetized with thiopental and oxymorphone while undergoing whole-body hyperthermia treatment. The calculated infusion rate for atracurium at 38 degrees C was 6.2 +/- 0.3 micrograms/kg/min and the calculated infusion rate at 42 de...

The effects of atracurium and alcuronium on the evoked mechanical and electromyographic responses of the adductor pollicis were investigated in 30 adult patients. The ulnar nerve was stimulated with trains of four supramaximal pulses of 0.2 ms duration and a frequency of 2 Hz at intervals of 20 s. The mechanical response was measured using a strain gauge force transducer and the evoked compound...

Sir,—We congratulate Drs Beetner, Bjorksten and Crankshaw on their description of the pharmacokinetics of atracurium [1]. As they observe correctly, the derivation of pharmacokinetic parameters after a single bolus dose is subject to difficulties because of the presumed degradation of atracurium in sites peripheral to the plasma. In our view, however, the crucial flaw in previous attempts to de...

One hundred and fifty-one cutaneous reactions occurred during 1200 anaesthetics in which atracurium was given. The majority occurred in females less than 70 years old. Bronchospasm and serious hypotension did not occur, and it is concluded that a history of allergic response or asthma is not a contraindication to the use of atracurium.