Atracurium for short surgical procedures in day patients

Atracurium was studied in day-stay patients undergoing short surgical procedures requiring tracheal intubation. In a dose of 0.25 mg kg-1 and with an anaesthetic technique using enflurane, tracheal intubation could be performed in all patients within 3 min and was readily reversible, unless the duration of surgery was less than 20 min. The administration of an antagonist was indicated in nearly all patients in whom surgery lasted for less than 30 min.