Abstract
Muscle relaxants of this type act at the neuromuscular junction, interfering with the transmission of impulses from motor nerves to skeletal muscles, as distinct from the centrally acting muscle relaxants such as mephenesin, meprobamate, diazepam, and baclofen. In this chapter, discussion will be limited to reactions which can best be described as anaphylactic-like, and which are to a major extent not related to the normal pharmacological actions of these drugs. Reactions basically due to abnormal or deficient enzymes (e.g. enzymes involved in the metabolic degradation of various choline esters, Kalow and Gunn 1957; Kalow 1962; Clark et al. 1968; Silk et al. 1979) will not be discussed here. However, it is the author’s view that in some patients reacting in this anaphylactic-like manner to certain of these agents, particularly depolarising neuromuscular blockers such as suxamethonium, such abnormalities may coexist and thus may contribute to the intensity, manifestations and duration of the reaction. This view is based on preliminary findings in our own laboratory (Assem and Chong unpublished).
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Assem, E.S.K. (1983). Neuromuscular Blocking Drugs. In: de Weck, A.L., Bundgaard, H. (eds) Allergic Reactions to Drugs. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 63. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69088-4_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69088-4_12
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