title: Recovery of post-tetanic and train-of-four responses at the first dorsal interosseous and adductor pollicis muscles in patients receiving vecuronium.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare recovery of accelographical responses to post-tetanic twitch (PTT) and train-of-four (TOF) stimuli obtained at the first dorsal interosseous muscle (DI) with those at the adductor pollicis muscle (AP) after administration of vecuronium 70 micrograms.kg-1.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty adult patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups: PTT-DI (n = 15), PTT-AP (n = 15), TOF-DI (n = 15), or TOF-AP (n = 15) group. In PTT-DI and PTT-AP groups, responses to PTT were measured accelographically at the DI and at the AP, respectively. In TOF-DI and TOF-AP groups, responses to TOF were measured at the DI and at the AP, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The T1/T0 (T0 = control) was greater in the TOF-DI than in TOF-AP group throughout recovery (P < 0.05), and the T4/T1 was greater in the TOF-DI than in TOF-AP group during the 30-40 min after vecuronium injection (P < 0.05). Time to the return of the first response to PTT (post-tetanic count(1), PTC1) was less in the PTT-DI than in the PTT-AP group (17.7 +/- 4.2 vs 21.7 +/- 5.6 min, mean +/- SD, P = 0.0341). The post-tetanic count PTC (number of single twitch stimuli in response to PTT) was greater in the PTT-DI than in the PTT-AP group during the 10-30 min after vecuronium (P < 0.05). Time to the return of T1 was less in the TOF-DI than in the TOF-AP group (23.1 +/- 6.0 vs 27.6 +/- 4.9 min, P = 0.0334).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recovery of responses to PTT and TOF stimuli occurred earlier at the DI than at the AP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saitoh
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Toyooka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Amaha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects*; D009467:Neuromuscular Depolarizing Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000187:drug effects*; D013390:Succinylcholine / Q000494:pharmacology; D014673:Vecuronium Bromide / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D009467:Neuromuscular Depolarizing Agents; D014673:Vecuronium Bromide; D013390:Succinylcholine