Skip Navigation



BJA Advance Access published online on April 9, 2008
British Journal of Anaesthesia, doi:10.1093/bja/aen084
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
100/6/798    most recent
aen084v1
Right arrow E-Letters: Submit a response to the article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Soltész, S.
Right arrow Articles by Molter, G. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Soltész, S.
Right arrow Articles by Molter, G. P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia 2008. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Influence of a continuous prednisolone medication on the time course of neuromuscular block of atracurium in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease

S. Soltész1,*, T. Mencke2, C. Mey1, S. Röhrig1, C. Diefenbach3 and G. P. Molter1

1 Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Hospital Leverkusen, Am Gesundheitspark 11, D-51375 Leverkusen, Germany
2 Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
3 Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, St. Katharinen Hospital, Frechen, Germany

* Corresponding author. E-mail: soltesz{at}klinikum-lev.de

Background: Corticosteroids interact with neuromuscular blocking agents. However, experimental data are contradictory: enhancement and attenuation of the neuromuscular block has been observed. This study tested the influence of long-term medication with prednisolone on atracurium-induced neuromuscular block.

Methods: Sixty patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease undergoing elective abdominal surgery were investigated. Thirty patients received a long-term medication with prednisolone (Group A) and 30 were without corticoid medication (Group B). Additionally, another 30 patients without inflammatory bowel disease and without corticoid medication served as control (Group C). The following parameters of an atracurium-induced neuromuscular block (0.25 mg kg–1) were measured: onset time, maximum block, recovery to 25% first twitch height, recovery index (time from 25% until 75% recovery of first twitch), duration to recovery to a train-of-four (TOF) rate of 0.7 and 0.9.

Results: The groups did not differ with regard to onset time, maximum block, and recovery index. The duration to 25% twitch height was significantly lower in Group A [18.1 (0–30.7) min] compared with Group B [23.5 (0–36.7) min; P<0.05]. Duration to a TOF rate of 0.7 and 0.9, respectively, were significantly reduced in Group A [36.1 (7.9) and 40.9 (9.0 min)] compared with Group B [47.9 (7.6) and 53.4 (9.2) min; P<0.001].

Conclusions: Long-term medication with prednisolone resulted in a shorter duration of an atracurium-induced neuromuscular block in patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. The presence of the inflammatory bowel disease did not influence the time course of the neuromuscular block.

Keywords: neuromuscular block, atracurium; neuromuscular block, recovery


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.