Anesthesiology
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Comparative Study
Neuromuscular effects of atracurium during halothane-nitrous oxide and enflurane-nitrous oxide anesthesia in humans.
To compare the effect of halothane and enflurane on an atracurium-induced neuromuscular blockade, the authors studied 40 patients during elective surgery. During 1.25 MAC enflurane-nitrous oxide (n = 20) or halothane-nitrous oxide (n = 20) (MAC value includes contribution from 60% nitrous oxide), the doses depressing twitch tension 50% (ED50S) for atracurium were 70 and 77 micrograms/kg, respectively. The difference was not significant. ⋯ The authors conclude that the potency of atracurium does not differ during halothane-nitrous oxide and enflurane-nitrous oxide anesthesia. Combining the results of this study with a previous study (atracurium ED50 = 68 micrograms/kg and 83 micrograms/kg during isoflurane-nitrous oxide and fentanyl-nitrous oxide anesthesia respectively), the potency of atracurium does not differ by more than 20% among the four anesthetic techniques studied. The background anesthetic appears to have less effect on an atracurium-induced neuromuscular blockade than on one produced by other longer-acting nondepolarizing muscle relaxants (e.g., pancuronium and d-tubocurarine).