COMPARATIVE USE OF MUSCLE-RELAXANTS AND THEIR REVERSAL IN 3 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES - A SURVEY IN FRANCE, GERMANY AND GREAT-BRITAIN

A survey was conducted among British, French and German anaesthetists to evaluate possible national differences in the peri-operative use of muscle relaxants and their reversal agents. The same non-depolarizing relaxants are used in all three countries, with the exception of d-tu bocurarine, which is only available in Great Britain, and alcuronium w hich is mainly used in Germany. The French anaesthetists seem to use s ignificantly less succinylcholine than their peers in Great Britain or Germany for both elective and emergency intubation. Monitoring of neu romuscular blockade still relies mainly on 'clinical judgement'. Rever sal of non-depolarizing muscle relaxants is performed routinely in Gre at Britain, while a substantial number of French anaesthetists avoid t he use of a reversal. Dose regimes for neostigmine vary largely, with German anaesthetists administering the lowest, and British anaesthetis ts administering the highest doses. Side effects of reversal agents ar e reported by colleagues from all three countries in too high a percen tage to justify uncritical administration of these drugs. In Germany t here seems to be a noteworthy lack of recovery facilities.