[Plasma histamine levels after the administration of atracurium or pancuronium in patients undergoing general anesthesia]
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M S Asuero1, L Larrodera, N Molins
1Servicio de Anestesiología y Reanimación y Laboratorio de Bioquímica, Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid.
Objectives:
To compare the release of histamine induced by atracurium and pancuronium.
Material And Methods:
We studied 20 patients ASA III undergoing vascular surgery under etomidate anesthesia. Patients were randomly treated with either 0.5 mg/kg of atracurium or 0.1 mg/kg of pancuronium as muscle relaxant agents. Plasma histamine concentration, heart rate, arterial blood pressure, PaO2, and PaCO2 were measured at the basal state and 1.2 and 5 min after administration of the muscle relaxant drug.
Results:
Plasma histamine concentration at baseline were 0.691 +/- 0.6 ng/ml in the atracurium group and 0.756 +/- 0.612 ng/ml in the pancuronium group. These levels raised up to 2.748 +/- 6.278 ng/ml (atracurium) and 2.553 +/- 5.454 ng/ml (pancuronium). These differences were not statistically significant. The course of the remaining parameters studied in these patients was also comparable between the two groups. There were no clinical manifestations associated with the release of histamine.
Conclusions:
Plasma levels of histamine after administration of atracurium were not significantly different from those induced by pancuronium.