Rocuronium vs Cis-atracurium: Do Rocuronium Still 'ROCKS' In Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Rocuronium vs Cis-atracurium: Do Rocuronium Still 'ROCKS' In Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

The current trend in most cardiac surgeries was to use rocuronium as it provides faster recovery in train-of-four ratio compared to other aminosteroid non-depolarising neuromuscular blocker. However, as most cardiac centres' standard of care does not perform any neuromuscular monitoring nor antagonism of neuromuscular blockade effect, residual neuromuscular blockade could potentially be the key to delayed extubation. As such, Cis-atracurium's organ-independent Hofmann elimination could be in favour.

Inclusion Criteria:

• All patients that undergo general anaesthesia for CABG surgery requiring neuromuscular blockade of either rocuronium or cis-atracurium

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Recent history of pulmonary infection four weeks before surgery
2. Exposed to both neuromuscular blockade within 24 hours perioperatively
3. Patients intubated or on tracheostomies pre-operatively
4. Any missing or incomplete data