Measurement of neuromuscular function

Abstract

The investigation of neuromuscular pharmacology, in both man and experimental animals, has enjoyed great popularity, among anaesthetists because of the relative ease of making simple quantita}ive measurements of the level of neuromuscular block. Of the massive number of studies submitted for publication, many come to grief because of faulty technique. The mere fact that neuromuscular transmission has been so extensively studied, allows the reviewer knowledgeably to criticize the technique in the finest detail. This chapter is an attempt to list the various methods of study and to show where they are appropriate and, where possible, to eliminate the pitfalls. It differs from a previous review in this series (Ali, 1985) in that it is directed at research rather than clinical practice. There are a number of excellent and comprehensive reviews on clinical neuromuscular monitoring, that of Ali and Savarese (1976), contains over 200 references. Some more recent reviews are to be found in the references.