A contribution to the monitoring of neuromuscular blockade: an evaluation of the Datex Relaxograph.

The Datex Relaxograph is a neuromuscular transmission monitor, which measures the degree of neuromuscular blockade during anesthesia. In order to evaluate the reliability of the Relaxograph, results, obtained with this apparatus, were compared with simultaneous mechanical measurements obtained with the Myograph 2000 (Biometer). Although there was a good correlation between the two throughout the study, a shift towards mechanical responses was observed in all cases. Subsequently, the Relaxograph was used to evaluate atracurium and vecuronium when given accordingly to the priming principle. Results show that neither drug offers major clinical advantages over the other. In a third study, a new bolus-constant infusion regimen of atracurium was evaluated. Results show that it produces a predictable and stable neuromuscular blockade.