• S Jelen-Esselborn and M Blobner.
• Institut für Anaesthesiologie, Klinikum rechts der Isar der Technischen Universität München.
• Anaesthesist. 1990 Mar 1;39(3):173-8.

AbstractCalcium entry blockers are now widely used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Nifedipine is established for the treatment of perioperative hypertension during anesthesia. Previous animal experiments have demonstrated that calcium entry blockers potentiate the neuromuscular response induced by nondepolarizing blocking drugs. Occasional observations in patients have led to the suggestion that this phenomenon may be of clinical significance. The interaction of nifedipine with nondepolarizing muscle relaxants in patients was assessed in a prospective clinical study. PATIENTS AND METHODS. Atracurium or vecuronium was administered for muscular relaxation in 44 patients anesthesized with isoflurane in nitrous oxide/oxygen. Monitoring included checks on noninvasive blood pressure, heart rate, pharyngeal temperature, tidal volume, end-tidal CO2 and neuromuscular transmission with a Datex ABM 100 Relaxograph ("train of four"). In the first study protocol atracurium was given to the patients after the intubation dose of 0.5 mg/kg in equal repetition doses of 0.2 mg/kg whenever T1 reached 25%. In 12 patients with the second repetition dose 1 mg nifedipine was injected i.v. The duration of neuromuscular depression with nifedipine until T1 reached 25% again was compared with the duration without nifedipine in the same patient. In the second protocol, constant neuromuscular blockade was accomplished in 11 patients by administration of atracurium or vecuronium at a constant perfusion rate at a level of 75% twitch depression. After 15 min of stable neuromuscular blockade 1 mg nifedipine was injected. In the third study protocol, 1 mg nifedipine i.v. was given at the end of anesthesia when the patients began to breathe spontaneously (T1 was at least 25%). RESULTS. In each patient there was a significant prolongation of neuromuscular blockade from 29 min +/- 6 min up to 40 min +/- 8 min when nifedipdine was given with the second repetition dose (P less than 0.001). During continuous relaxation with constant neuromuscular depression nifedipine increased the neuromuscular blockade from 75% up to 90% +/- 4% (P less than 0.05). In patients with spontaneous breathing and fading but still existing neuromuscular blockade nifedipine injection resulted in hypoventilation. The cardiovascular effects of 1 mg nifedipine, although significant, attained no clinically relevant values. CONCLUSIONS. Our results confirm previous assumptions of synergistic effects of neuromuscular blocking drugs and nifedipine in patients. This synergistic effect includes both duration and intensity of neuromuscular blockade. In the postoperative period patients may be endangered by nifedipine therapy if recovery from the neuromuscular depression is not complete.

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