Comparison of Rocuronium and Succinylcholine in Establishing Rapid Intubating Conditions; A Quasi Experimental Study

Authors

  • Muhammad Adil Department of Anesthesia, Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi/National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) Pakistan
  • Asad Jafri Department of Anesthesia, Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi/National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) Pakistan
  • Faheem Feroze Department of Anesthesia, Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi/National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) Pakistan
  • Haroon Javed Awan Department of Anesthesia, Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi/National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) Pakistan
  • Ahmed Farrukh Department of Anesthesia, Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi/National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) Pakistan
  • Tayab Saeed Department of Anesthesia, Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi/National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51253/pafmj.v76i1.12486

Keywords:

Rapid intubating conditions, rocuronium, succinylcholine, tracheal intubation

Abstract

Objective: To compare rocuronium and succinylcholine in establishing rapid intubating conditions.

Study design: Quasi-experimental study.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Anesthesia, Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from Jan to Jun 2021.

Methodology: A total of 580 adult patients undergoing emergency or elective surgery under general anesthesia were included. Both groups received propofol 2mg/kg as induction agent while Group-A received succinylcholine 1 mg/kg and Group-B received rocuronium 0.8 mg/kg. We assessed rapid intubating conditions such as vocal cord abduction, easy laryngoscopy in less than 30 seconds and response to intubation. Intraoperative general anesthesia was maintained with isoflurane 1.2% with flow rate of 5 L/min at FiO2 of 0.6. Monitoring of heart rate, oxygen saturation, electrocardiogram, mean arterial pressure (MAP), temperature and end tidal carbon dioxide was done.

Results: The mean age of patients in Group-A was 37.33 ± 7.86 years and in Group-B was 37.25 ± 8.27 years. Majority of the patients 346(59.66%) were between 36 to 50 years of age while 254 patients (43.79%) were males and 326(56.21%) were females with male to female ratio of 1:1.3. Frequency of establishing rapid intubating conditions in Group-A (succinylcholine) was found in 160(55.17%) patients while in Group-B (rocuronium), it was found in 135(46.55%) patients with p-value of 0.038.

Conclusion: Succinylcholine was found to be more effective in terms of frequency of establishing rapid intubating conditions as compared to rocuronium.

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References

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Published

28-02-2026

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1.
Muhammad Adil, Jafri A, Feroze F, Awan HJ, Farrukh A, Saeed T. Comparison of Rocuronium and Succinylcholine in Establishing Rapid Intubating Conditions; A Quasi Experimental Study. Pak Armed Forces Med J [Internet]. 2026 Feb. 28 [cited 2026 Mar. 5];76(1):115-9. Available from: https://pafmj.org/PAFMJ/article/view/12486