In 1942 Griffith and Johnson suggested that d-tubocurarine (dTc) is a safe drug to use during surgery to provide skeletal muscle relaxation. One year later, Cullen described its use in 131 patients who had received general anesthesia for their surgery. In 1954, Beecher and Todd reported a sixfold increase in mortality in patients receiving dTc versus those who had not received a relaxant. The i...

The incidence of awareness during insufficient anaesthesia is reported to be one per cent. It is usually due to the use of muscle relaxants, a balanced technique and the lightest possible depth of anaesthesia. Increased incidences were noted in open-heart surgery, during intubation-endoscopy procedures and in caesarean delivery patients. Experiences of awareness are disturbing to patients, who ...

In 1975 Savarese and Kitz [1] suggested that three new types of neuromuscular blocking drug were required. All should be non-depolarizing agents capable of antagonism and all should be free from cardiovascular side effects in therapeutic doses. The first type would replace suxamethonium, the second was to have a duration of action shorter than the competitive agents available at that time, and ...

At least two laboratories have independently reported the synthesis of benzofuroindole compounds having potential therapeutic implications in many disease states including those that involve smooth muscle hyperactivity. Through a series of in vitro screenings, they demonstrated the efficacy (and selectivity) of these compounds to potentiate large conductance calcium- (Ca²⁺-) activated K⁺ (BK(Ca...