Rocuronium For Tracheal Intubation In Patients Undergoing Emergency Surgery

Abstract

Aims: To compare the intubating conditions betweeninj. Rocuroniumandinj. Succinylcholine during rapid sequenceintubation in patients posted for emergency surgeries. The primary outcome was excellent intubationconditions. The secondary outcome was acceptable conditions and complications associated with rocuronium. Methods and Material : 60 patients posted for emergency surgeries were randomly divided randomly in to two groups. Intubating conditions at 60 seconds were compared in group-A (inj.succinylcholine 1mg/kg) and group-B(inj. rocuronium 0.6mg/kg), 30 patients in each group. Intubating conditions were judged based on the scoring of ease of jaw opening, position of the vocal cords and degree of straining after tracheal intubation. Statistical analysis used: Data obtained were be analysed by t-test, chi-square test and fisher exact test wherever applicable. Results: Mean apnoea onset time was 28.37 sec in group-A whereas it was 41.13 seconds in group-B. The mean intubation score was 9.00 00 in group-A and 8.43 0.85 in group-B. No side effects were observed in both the groups. Conclusions: Rocuronium (o.6mg/kg) provided acceptable intubation conditions in most of the patients at 60 seconds but, unable to provide excellent intubating conditions in all of them during rapid sequence intubation. Suxamethonium is still the best muscle relaxant to accomplish intubation in emergent cases. If suxamethonium is contraindicated, Rocuronium may be used as an alternative.