A Prospective Randomized Study to Compare the Onset, Intubation condition and Duration of Various Doses of Rocuronium in Adult Patients Undergoing Endotracheal intubation

Background: Muscle relaxants are used during surgery to ensure good skeletal muscle relaxation. Succinyl choline revolutionized anesthetic practice by providing intense neuro muscular blockade of very rapid onset and ultra short acting duration favoring ease of endotracheal intubation. Rocuronium is the first non-depolarizing muscle relaxant considered to be an acceptable substitute for succinyl choline in facilitating rapid intubation of trachea due to its rapid onset of action. Aim: The main aim of our study was to evaluate and compare the onset time, intubation conditions and duration of action of various doses of Rocuronium. Materials and methodology: 60 adult patients of age group between 20 – 60 years belonging to ASA 1 and 2 of either sex posted for laparoscopic surgery were included in the study and were divided into three groups of 20 each as Group I received 0.6mg/kg Rocuronium, Group II received 0.75mg/kg Rocuronium and Group III received 0.9mg/kg Rocuronium. Observation and results: The following parameters like time and dose of giving Rocuronium, time at which intubation was done, time at which all four twitches of TOF disappeared and recovered were noted in our study. The onset time was shown to reduce significantly with increasing the dosage from 0.6mg/kg to 0.75mg/kg and from 0.75mg/kg to 0.9mg/kg (p<0.002) in Mann Whitney test and p<0.009 in Kruskal Wallis test and in duration of action, there is significant increase in duration by increasing the dose 0.6mg/kg and 0.9mg/kg, 0.75mg/kg and 0.9mg/kg and 0.6mg/kg and 0.9mg/kg. Conclusion: Increasing the dosage from 0.6mg/kg to 0.75mg/kg and to 0.9mg/kg reduces the onset time, prolongs the clinical duration and gives excellent intubation conditions at 60 seconds.