Mjj. Symington et al., DURATION OF STABILIZATION OF CONTROL RESPONSES AFFECTS THE ONSET AND DURATION OF ACTION OF ROCURONIUM BUT NOT SUXAMETHONIUM, European journal of anaesthesiology, 13(4), 1996, pp. 377-380
The effect of the duration of stabilization of control responses on th
e onset and duration of clinical relaxation of suxamethonium 1 mg kg(-
1) and rocuronium 0.6 mg kg(-1) were investigated in 90 patients. The
control responses were allowed to stabilize for 1, 5, 10, 15 or 20 min
prior to administration of rocuronium and for 1, 5, 10 or 15 min prio
r to suxamethonium. The mean onset time for rocuronium decreased from
150 to 46 s as the duration of stabilization increased from 1 to 20 mi
n (P<0.001) although the maximal effect was observed within the first
5 min. The average duration of clinical relaxation also increased from
25 to 40 min (P<0.001). No effect was observed for either variable in
the case of suxamethonium.