Myoglobinemia after a Single Dose of Succinylcholine

Abstract

Abstract The frequency of myoglobinemia after a single intravenous dose of succinylcholine was determined in 40 children and 30 adults. Myoglobin was measured in serial serum samples by a specific immune precipitin technic sensitive to 5 μg per milliliter. Myoglobinemia developed in one adult and 16 children after the intravenous administration of succinylcholine but not, in 12 children, after intramuscular injection. These findings point to a difference in muscle responsiveness in children to this depolarizing muscle relaxant. This response diminishes with the onset of puberty. The development of myoglobinemia after the administration of succinylcholine, although it did not appear to affect recovery from surgery, accentuates the need for another type of short-acting muscle relaxant for use in children.