Residual curarization in the recovery room: atracurium versus gallamine

Residual curarization in the recovery room was evaluated in 19 patients randomly allocated to two groups with nine and ten patients in each group, respectively. In one group atracurium was used for relaxation, and gallamine was used in the other. Anaesthesia was achieved with thiopental, diazepam, fentanyl and nitrous oxide in oxygen. Mean train-of-four (TOF) ratio in the gallamine and atracurium group was 0.63 and 0.91, respectively. Fifty per cent of the patients in the gallamine group had TOF ratios below 0.70, and none of these patients were able to sustain a head lift for 5 s. All patients in the atracurium group had TOF ratios above 0.70, and all of them were able to lift their head for 5 s. All patients were fully awake when they were evaluated, and no patient had any sign of respiratory difficulty. We conclude that residual curarization in the recovery room remains a problem and that this problem seems to be reduced when muscle relaxants of intermediate duration of action are used for relaxation during operation.