BACKGROUND Animal experiments revealed that succinylcholine produced masseter muscle rigidity and activated myotonic discharges despite neuromuscular blockade with a nondepolarizing blocker. These results suggest that either succinylcholine or its metabolites might interfere directly with voltage-operated ion channels of the sarcolemma. The aim of this study was to examine effects of one produc...

A 47-year-old Turkish male was scheduled for laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anesthesia. The patient had 2 operations 28 and 19 years ago under general anesthesia. It was learned that the patient was administered succinylcholine during both of these previous operations and that he did not have a history of prolonged recovery or postoperative apnea. The patient had been using sertrali...

THE introduction of succinylcholine into clinical practice in 1951 was a seminal development in the history of anesthesia. Since that time, anesthesiologists have had access to a neuromuscular blocking drug (muscle relaxant) with a very rapid onset and a duration of action of approximately 10 min. The clinical utility of succinylcholine has been counterbalanced by its many undesirable effects, ...