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Reduced hypoxic chemosensitivity in partially paralysed man. A new property of muscle relaxants?
Author(s) -
Eriksson L. I.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
acta anaesthesiologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1399-6576
pISSN - 0001-5172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-6576.1996.tb04482.x
Subject(s) - medicine , anesthesia , pharmacology
Background: It was hypothesized that non‐depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents impair hypoxic chemosensitivity in man. Methods: In thirty randomly allocated male volunteers the hypoxic and hypercarbic ventilatory responses were measured during partial paralysis (TOF ratio 0.70) due to either atracurium (n=10), pancuronium (n=10) or vecuronium (n=10). Results: Hypoxic ventilatory responses were depressed by 306, 287 and 296% (mean SD) at steady‐state infusion of atracurium, pancuronium and vecuronium, respectively. At a TOF ratio of >0.90, the HVR was not different from control measurements. Conclusion: It is concluded that non‐depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents impair hypoxic ventilatory regulation. Further experimental studies are warranted to fully describe the mechanism(s) responsible for this interaction.