Re. Kelly et al., SUCCINYLCHOLINE INCREASES INTRAOCULAR-PRESSURE IN THE HUMAN EYE WITH THE EXTRAOCULAR-MUSCLES DETACHED, Anesthesiology, 79(5), 1993, pp. 948-952
Background: The increase in intraocular pressure in the human eye that
is associated with the use of intravenous succinylcholine has long be
en ascribed to contraction of the extraocular muscles leading to compr
ession of the globe. This created concern that such contraction would
extrude global contents in the patient with an open globe, and led cli
nicians to avoid the use of succinylcholine in these patients. Methods
. The authors studied 15 patients undergoing elective enucleation, and
compared the intraocular pressure change after the administration of
succinylcholine in the diseased eye after all the extraocular muscles
had been detached to that of the normal eye that had the extraocular m
uscles attached. Results: The authors found no difference in baseline
intraocular pressure (mmHg) between eyes (15.1 vs. 16.1) or at peak in
traocular pressure (25.2 vs. 24.7), but did observe a significant diff
erence in pressure in both eyes when baseline was compared with peak p
ressure. Conclusions. The authors concluded that extraocular muscle co
ntraction does not contribute to the increase in intraocular pressure
after succinylcholine.