Assessment of Neuromuscular Function in Infants
Open Access
- 1 January 1981
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wolters Kluwer Health in Anesthesiology
- Vol. 54 (1) , 29-32
- https://doi.org/10.1097/00000542-198101000-00006
Abstract
This study was conducted to measure neuromuscular transmission in newborn infants. Age-dependent differences in neuromuscular transmission and the effect of nitrous oxide anesthesia upon neuromuscular function were assessed in pediatric surgical patients following induction of anesthesia with methohexital by the use of the frequency sweep electromyogram (FS-EMG). Children > 12 wk chronologic age usually had FS-EMG responses similar to those of adults; infants < 12 wk old had significantly less pronounced FS-EMG responses at high stimulation frequencies (> 50 Hz). Administration of 70% nitrous oxide induced 11-38% reductions in the amplitudes of the FS-EMG responses at all frequencies of stimulation in the younger group. A positive correlation was found between inability to sustain a tetanic contracture (FS-EMG fade) in the 50-100 Hz region of stimulation and percentage depression of the FS-EMG response induced by nitrous oxide.Keywords
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