Neuromuscular blockade by d-tubocurarine in children

Half a century of anesthesia for children: An interview with Dr. Nishan G. 'Nick' Goudsouzian

The career of Dr Nishan Goudsouzian spanned half a century of pediatric anesthesia. His 50 years saw seminal contributions to the use of neuromuscular blocking agents in children, the development of proton beam therapy and magnetic resonance imaging for pediatric cancer, the introduction of the laryngeal mask airway, an explosion in the volume and depth of knowledge about pediatric anesthesia, the expansion of formal training in pediatric anesthesia, and the widening of academic efforts to improve anesthetic care for children worldwide. Based on interviews with Dr Goudsouzian, this article reviews the contributions of this Robert M. Smith Award winner to the development of pediatric anesthesia.

Accelerated onset and delayed recovery of d-tubocurarine blockade with pancuronium in infants and children

The effect of age on the onset and duration of action of a d-tubocurarine (DTC) neuromuscular blockade with and without pancuronium priming in children was examined. Sixty ASA physical status I or II patients in three age ranges (0-1 yr, 1-3 yr and 3-10 yr) were anaesthetized with thiopentone, halothane and nitrous oxide. Each patient received either a single paralyzing dose of DTC 0.4 mg.kg-1, or DTC 0.36 mg.kg-1 preceded three minutes earlier by pancuronium 0.007 mg.kg-1. Evoked force of contraction of the adductor pollicis was measured using train-of-four stimulation applied every 12 sec. Time to 90 per cent first twitch depression after a single dose of DTC increased with increasing age (r = 0.65, p less than 0.01), and was 1.6 min (SEM +/- 0.3) in the 0-1 yr group, 1.9 +/- 0.3 min (1-3 yr), and 5.2 +/- 1.2 min (3-10 yr). Time to ten per cent spontaneous recovery after single dose DTC was shorter in older individuals (r = 0.40, p less than 0.05), being 36.4 +/- 5.1 min in infants 0-1 yr, 30.6 +/- 4.6 min (1-3 yr), and 24.0 +/- 2.7 min (3-10 yr). Priming with pancuronium accelerated the onset significantly in all age groups with 90 per cent T1 depression occurring at 0.7 +/- 0.1 min (0-1 yr), 0.9 +/- 0.1 min (1-3 yr), and 2.1 +/- 0.6 min (3-10 yr). However, priming delayed recovery, especially in infants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)