Vudayagiri Ravi Sankar1 , Atturi Jeevan Babu2 , Mallam Suchitra3
BACKGROUND We wanted to compare the safety and efficacy of rocuronium and suxamethonium with regard to tracheal intubation. METHODS 100 patients were divided at random into two categories of 50 subjects each. The first group was the suxamethonium (10 mg / Kg) group, and the second group was the rocuronium group (0 6 mg / Kg). Intubating conditions, time of intubation, duration of action, and complications if any, were assessed. RESULTS Clinically appropriate (excellent, good) intubating conditions were found in 100 % of patients in both categories. But, the time taken to intubate in group II (rocuronium) was significantly longer with a mean of 92.86 seconds than for group I (suxamethonium) with a mean of 63.04 seconds. The duration of action was longer for rocuronium with a mean of 24.30 minutes compared to suxamethonium with a mean of 72.60 minutes. No significant complications were observed in either group at the time intubation. CONCLUSIONS Rocuronium also creates clinically appropriate intubating conditions in 100 % of patients and rocuronium can be used as an alternative to suxamethonium where suxamethonium is contraindicated or is problematic.
