[L-tubocurarine and pancuronium bromide in open heart surgery]

Comparison is made between 45 cases treated with d-tubocurarine and 60 with pancuronium bromide in open-heart surgery. Pancuronium displayed unmistakable advantages in the form of a more potent action, rapid commencement and long duration, dose flexibility and an almost complete absence of undesirable side-effects. In addition, it offered stability with respect to the cardiovascular system and enabled risk-free, deep muscle relaxation to be achieved even in subjects with complex cardiopathies, such as those with pulmonary hypertension, extreme hypoplasia or aplasia of the trunk of the pulmonary artery and patent ductus arteriosus, for whom a very high operative mortality risk exists when even minimal changes in cardiovascular parameters occur.