Neuromuscular blockade with pancuronium and its antagonism was evaluated in 33 critically ill infants. The evoked contraction of the adductor pollicis from indirect stimulation of the ulnar nerve was measured. The neuromuscular blockade recovered spontaneously from pancuronium in seven infants, 23 required one or more doses of atropine 0.02 ng kg-1 and neostigmine 0.06 mgkg-1. In three infants ...

The clinical pharmacology of neuromuscular blocking agents is described. During neuromuscular blockade, succinylcholine attaches to receptors in the motor end plate and depolarizes the neuromuscular junction, making the end plate refractory to acetylcholine. The nondepolarizing relaxants have a structure similar to that of succinylcholine and bind to the same receptors. Instead of depolarizing ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The action mechanism of local anesthetics (LA) on neuromuscular junction motivated several studies. When administered at low doses, they do not interfere on neuromuscular transmission. But high doses may compromise neuromuscular transmission and increase the effects of neuromuscular blockers. The objective of this study was to evaluate lidocaine interaction with rocuro...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Calcium channel blockers may interact with neuromuscular blockers, increasing its effects. Research studies about this interaction display controversial results. In some studies these drugs produced neuromuscular blockage, or contracture, or no effect at all was proved over skeletal neuromuscular response. This study assessed the nifedipine effects over muscular respon...

The effects of the new aminoglycoside antibiotic amikacin on neurohumoral transmission were tested in the anaesthetized cat, and in mouse, rat and chick isolated nerve-muscle preparations. Amikacin had blocking actions on both autonomic and neuromuscular transmission. The autonomic effects were caused mainly by ganglion blockade and were reversed by calcium. The amikacin-induced neuromuscular b...

Management of anemic patients refusing blood transfusion remains challenging. Concomitant coronary artery disease further complicates management. We sought to decrease the likelihood of cardiac events by employing hypothermia and neuromuscular blockade, in addition to limited phlebotomy, in a critically anemic Jehovah's Witness patient following emergent colectomy. The patient's hemoglobin conc...

BACKGROUND: Size, weight and technical difficulties limit the use of ponderous strip chart electroencephalographs (EEGs) for real time evaluation of brain wave function in modern intensive care units (ICUs). Portable, computer processed, bedside EEGs provide real time brain wave appraisal for some brain functions during therapeutic neuromuscular blockade when the visual clues of the cerebral fu...

Many drugs can cause neuromuscular blockade. Clindamycin-related neuromuscular blockade is commonly reported, but fatal clindamycin-induced neuromuscular blockade is rarely reported. We describe a 47-year-old woman who initially presented with endometrial carcinoma. She underwent a laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) and bilateral adnexectomy under general anesthesia, secondary to...

Centrophenoxine exhibited some interesting actions at the neuromuscular junction. The drug was ineffective in rat or chick preparations, but blocked neuromuscular transmission in frog preparations. The blockade was reversed by adrenaline, potassium, choline and physostigmine. The drug had no effect on muscle contractility or endplate cholinoceptor. Hemicholinium 3 induced a neuromuscular blocka...

Corresponding author: Jong-Man Kang, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, 149, Sangil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul 134-090, Korea. Tel: 82-2-440-6193, Fax: 82-2-440-7808, E-mail: [email protected] This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// creati...