COMPARISON OF ACCELEROMYOGRAPHY AND ELECTROMYOGRAPHY IN VECURONIUM-INDUCED NEUROMUSCULAR BLOCKADE WITH XENON OR SEVOFLURANE ANESTHESIA

Study Objectives: To compare acceleromyography (AMG) and electromyogra phy (EMG) with xenon or sevoflurane anesthesia during vecuronium-induc ed neuromuscular blockade. Design: Prospective randomized study. Setti ng: University hospital. Patients: 28 ASA physical status I and II adu lt patients presenting for elective surgery. Interventions: Patients r eceived vecuronium for neuromuscular blockade and either xenon (n = 11 ) or sevoflurane (n = 17) anesthesia. Measurements and Main Results: T he first twitch depression, which was expressed as a ratio of the firs t twitch to that obtained before the blocking drug was administered (T -1/Tc) was measured simultaneously by AMG and EMG. T-1/Tc as measured by AMG consistently demonstrated greater depression than that fry EMG during recovery. The limits of agreement were unacceptably wide, sugge sting that T-1/Tc obtained by AMG is a poor predictor of T-1/Tc as mea sured by EMG. Such relations were not affected by the anesthetic (xeno n or sevoflurane) used. Conclusion: AMG and EMG cannot be used interch angeably with either xenon or sevoflurane anesthesia. (C) 1998 by Else vier Science Inc.