title: Is muscle relaxant necessary for cardiac surgery?
abstract: The need for continuous and complete paralysis during the entire cardiac surgery has not yet been investigated and is still controversial. In a series of 87 patients undergoing cardiac surgery with normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass, we studied the delay of recovery, incidence of residual paralysis, unwanted patient movement, and difficult surgical conditions after a single dose of atracurium (0.5 mg/kg) or cisatracurium (0.15 mg/kg). Anesthesia was induced with etomidate and remifentanil followed by tracheal intubation. The delay to obtain a train-of-four ratio of >0.9 was longer with cisatracurium than with atracurium (86 +/- 18 versus 97 +/- 19 min). However, at the end of surgery, this ratio was >0.9 for all patients. The presence of unwanted patient movement, diaphragmatic contractions, and difficult surgical conditions were observed. Delay of extubation of the trachea was similar in both groups. We conclude that there is no need for continuous neuromuscular blockade during cardiac surgery. A single dose of either atracurium or cisatracurium is sufficient to provide efficient paralysis from the start of induction leading to quicker recovery from paralysis in fast-track cardiac surgery.
authors.affiliation: Département d'Anesthésie Réanimation, Centre Hospitalier la Cavale Blanche, Brest, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gueret
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rossignol
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kiss
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wargnier
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miossec
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spielman
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Arvieux
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D001279:Atracurium / Q000009:adverse effects; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000187:drug effects; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005045:Etomidate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008874:Midazolam; D008875:Middle Aged; D003473:Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D010880:Piperidines; D011229:Preanesthetic Medication; D011446:Prospective Studies; D000077208:Remifentanil
chemical_list: D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D003473:Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents; D010880:Piperidines; D001279:Atracurium; D000077208:Remifentanil; D008874:Midazolam; D005045:Etomidate