Objective:

To evaluate the efficiency of use of rocuronium and vecuronium in different dose regimens in neuroanaesthesia practice in terms of intubation time and first additional dose requirement.

Methods:

Sixty-eight neurosurgery patients with intracranial mass that were operated on were included in our study. Patients were randomly divided into 4 groups according to the induction dose of neuromuscular blocker (NMB) as: Group 1: Vecuronium 0.1 mg kg-1, Group 2: Priming, 20% of total vecuronium (0.1 mg kg-1) needed for induction injected 5 minutes before induction and then the rest used for induction, Group 3: Rocuronium group: 0.6 mg kg-1, Group 4: Rocuronium with rapid-sequence induction dose (RSID) (1.2 mg kg-1). TOF (Train of four) test was used to decide on intubation and an additional NMB dose during surgery. Intubation quality, time from induction to intubation, time until the first additional NMB dose and subsequent NMB dose intervals were recorded.

Results:

The RSID of rocuronium provided a significantly shorter time period for intubation against the other groups. Also, the time period from induction to first additional NMB requirement was significantly longer in the RSID group than the others. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups’ in terms of time period for monitorisation, positioning and start of surgery.

Conclusion:

With the use of RSID of rocuronium, it was seen that excellent intubation quality is provided at around 1 minute and, with its longer duration of action until a first additional dose, it covers the time period for monitorisation, positioning and start of surgery. Because of these effects, we think that RSID of rocuronium may be a better choice of dose regimen for neuroanaesthesia practice.

Keywords: Rocuronium, vecuronium, neuromuscular blockade, priming, neurosurgery