Abstract
A simple hydraulic hand dynamometer was used to assess the hand grip force before and after general anesthesia. Eight patients received a general anesthetic of nitrous oxide and oxygen and an inhalational agent without relaxants (nonrelaxant group). Ten patients received a similar anesthetic of nitrous oxide and oxygen and an inhalational agent with nondepolarizing relaxants (relaxant group). The patients in the nonrelaxant group showed a mild depression to 77% of initial hand grip force by the time they could hold up their heads for 5 seconds. Patients in the relaxant group had a mean of only 29% of initial hand grip force when they could lift their heads. One hour later, hand grip force increased to 76% of preoperative force in the relaxant group. Hand grip force appears to be a sensitive measurement of residual relaxant effect.
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Russell, W.J., Serle, D.G. Hand grip force as an assessment of recovery from neuromuscular block. J Clin Monitor Comput 3, 87–89 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00858355
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00858355