title: Some aspects of ocular function after precurarization.
abstract: Small doses of nondepolarizing relaxants are often recommended as prior medication to suxamethonium in order to avoid or attenuate the side effects elicited by the latter drug. After D-tubocurarine (0.05 mg/kg b.w. and 0.075 mg/kg b.w.) in unmedicated volunteers, a dose-dependent recession of the monocular near point of accomodation was recorded. This recession, which parallelled the decrease in grip strength, was 4 cm and 9 cm, respectively. The same doses evoked an exophoria of 14 and 17 prism diopters, respectively. Intraocular pressure was significantly lowered by D-tubocurarine 0.05 mg/kg b.w., from 2.01 kPa (15.1 mmHg) to 1.64 kPa (12.3 mmHg), and by pancuronium 0.015 mg/kg b.w. from 1.90 kPa (14.3 mmHg) to 1.44 kPa (10.8 mmHg). The decreases lasted for 7 min. Gallamine 0.3 mg/kg b.w. also decreased intraocular pressure, but to a lesser degree, and with statistical significance only during the fourth minute after administration. Relaxation of extraocular muscles may change the slightly ovoid shape of the eyeball into a more spherical one, thereby inducing a fall in intraocular pressure and a recession of the near point of accommodation.
mesh_terms: D000065:Accommodation, Ocular / Q000187:drug effects; D000328:Adult; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005123:Eye / Q000187:drug effects*; D005703:Gallamine Triethiodide / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D009132:Muscles / Q000187:drug effects; D003473:Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010197:Pancuronium / Q000494:pharmacology; D014403:Tubocurarine / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D003473:Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents; D010197:Pancuronium; D005703:Gallamine Triethiodide; D014403:Tubocurarine