A COMPARISON OF ATRACURIUM AND ALCURONIUM DURING HALOTHANE ANAESTHESIA BY MEASUREMENT OF THE TRAIN-OF-FOUR RESPONSE OF THE ADDUCTOR POLLICIS MUSCLE AND CLINICAL OBSERVATION

Atracurium and alcuronium have been compared during halothaneanaesthesia, by measurement of the mechanical response of theadductor pollicis muscles to train-of-four stimulation and byclinical observation. Atracurium appeared significantly shorter-actingthan alcuronium. However, results suggested that the actionof alcuronium may not be of "medium duration ". A comparisonof three indices of muscle twitch response to the train-of-fournerve stimulation, seemed to indicate that the D'/D ratio gavethe best overall index of neuromuscular blockade in this study.