ANTAGONISM OF PROFOUND NEUROMUSCULAR BLOCKADE INDUCED BY VECURONIUM OR ATRACURIUM

The effectiveness of neostigmine 0.07mg kg−1 and edrophonium 0.8 mg kg−1 as antagonists of profound neuromuscular blockade induced by vecuronium 0.1 mg kg−1 or atracurium 0.5 mg kg−1 was studied in 59 healthy patients. The antagonists were administered 5 min after total ablation of the twitch response and the end-point of recovery was a train-of-four ratio of 70%. In 30 patients given vecuronium the mean time to reach this point (duration TOF70) was 66.7min in the control group (no antagonist), 43.5 min in the group given neostigmine and 59.8 min in the group given edrophonium. The duration TOF70 was shorter in the neostigmine group than in the control {P < 0.01) and edrophonium (P