Neuromuscular blocking drugs (NMBDs) can predispose patients with myasthenia gravis to postoperative paralysis and respiratory complications. We had a 12-year-old female patient undergoing thoracoscopic thymectomy. She had suffered from MGFA class IIa (mild systemic) myasthenia gravis for 4 months. Anesthesia was induced with 3 mg x kg(-1) of thiopental and 0.2 mg x kg(-1) of rocuronium, which was given incrementally to achieve 100% blockade. Anesthesia was maintained with oxygen, air, 2% sevoflurane and 0.2 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1) of remifentanil. 0.05 mg x kg(-1) of rocuronium was added when the TOF ratio recovered to 20%. Towards the end of the surgery, remifentanil was withdrawn and 4 microg x kg(-1) of fentanyl was given. Intercostal nerve block with 0.2% ropivacaine was performed to relieve postoperative pain. TOF ratio was 32% at the end, when we gave 2 mg x kg(-1) of sugammadex to get 100% reversal of neuromuscular blockade in 120 seconds. There was no residual paralysis and respiratory complications postoperatively.

Recently, rocuronium is being used in patients for caesarean section undergoing general anesthesia instead of suxamethonium. An increased dose of rocuronium improves intubating conditions but prolongs neuromuscular blockade. Sugammadex reverses rapidly and predictably even profound rocuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade. We experienced 13 cases of caesarean section patients undergoing general anesthesia with thiopental (3.5 mg x kg(-1)) and rocuronium (0.9 mg x kg(-1)). At the end of surgery, sugammadex (2 mg x kg(-1)) was administered every 3 minutes repeatedly until TOF>0.9. In two patients, neuromuscular blockade spontaneously recovered to TOF>0.9 at the end of surgery. In most patients administered sugammadex, TOF recovered to more than 0.9 within a few minutes. However, in one patient who had chronic renal failure (creatinine clearance rate: 12 ml x min(-1)), 10 minutes were required for TOF to recover to more than 0.7, and TOF never reached 0.9. All patients were successfully intubated at the first attempt. No signs of recurarization or adverse effects related to sugammadex were noted in the perioperative period.

We audited patients with anaphylaxis to muscle relaxants during anaesthesia referred to the Department of Anaesthesia at the Royal Adelaide Hospital between the start of 2000 and the end of 2009. Of the 220 patients tested during this period, 43 had a positive intradermal test to the muscle relaxant given during their anaesthetic. The majority of these were to rocuronium and suxamethonium. Where rocuronium was the index agent, 65% of patients cross-reacted with another relaxant and 29% of patients with suxamethonium as their index agent demonstrated cross-reaction with another relaxant.

Women with neuromyelitis optica, an acute inflammatory demyelinating condition of the central nervous system, have an unpredictable clinical course in pregnancy. Providing neuraxial anesthesia for these patients is controversial, although relapses may occur after exposure to either general or neuraxial anesthesia and are common. We report the successful obstetric anesthesia management of a parturient with neuromyelitis optica, review the medical literature, and discuss specific considerations for obstetric anesthesia in patients with underlying demyelinating disease.

This report compares the actual doses of methohexital and succinylcholine used for optimal anesthesia and muscle relaxation in electroconvulsive therapy with written guidelines for dosing. The initial doses of methohexital and succinylcholine in milligrams per kilogram were reviewed and compared with subsequent doses of each agent after adjustments were made for individual patient responses during treatment. The dose of methohexital required to induce general anesthesia for most patients is 1.0 mg/kg. The dose of succinylcholine required to provide adequate muscle relaxation during electroconvulsive therapy is 0.9 mg/kg, although there is considerable variability in patient response to this drug.

Aspiration is a feared complication of anesthesia and is accompanied by increased morbidity and mortality. Rapid sequence induction (RSI) describes the preferred procedure to perform endotracheal placement of the tubus in emergency cases of patients with an increased risk of aspiration of gastric contents. For more than 50 years RSI has consisted of the application of suxamethonium for neuromuscular blockade because of its fast onset and ultra short duration. Due to the serious side effects of suxamethonium attempts were made to find better alternative neuromuscular blocking drugs, e.g. rocuronium, to perform RSI.In this small clinical series RSI was performed for general anesthesia of ten pregnant women for Caesarean sections using 1.0 mg/kgBW rocuronium for induction and maintaining deep relaxation until the end of surgery. For rapid reversal of the neuromuscular blockade to a train-of-four (TOF) ratio of 0.9, the µ-cyclodextrin sugammadex was administered at the end of surgery. Major and minor side effects, such as cardiac dysrhythmia, anaphylactic reactions, hoarseness and postoperative nausea and vomiting were documented.The combination of rocuronium and sugammadex for RSI combines rapid onset and rapid reversal of neuromuscular blockades with avoidance of serious side effects and very comfortable conditions for intubation in all cases. Minor side effects such as hoarseness, throat discomfort (in up to 30%) and myalgia (10%) for up to 48 h were documented.