Atracurium in clinical anaesthesia.

Atracurium was used on 250 occasions under normal operating conditions in patients between the ages of 18 and 86 yr; 97 patients were aged 65 yr and over, 47 were ASA Grade III, 15 were Grade IV and three were Grade V. Provided that a dose of 0.5-0.6 mgkg-1 was used, intubation was carried out in 1.5 min in 82% of patients. Good operating conditions were obtained in all patients and no complications could be attributed to atracurium even in patients giving a history of allergy or asthma. Residual blockade could be adequately antagonized and recurarization did not occur.