Background & Objectives: Nitroglycerin is found to have vasodilatory effect. It has also a relaxing effect on the smooth muscles of other organs including uterus. This study investigates the effect of intravenous nitroglycerin in emergency cesarean sections in which rapid and transient uterine relaxation for rapid and nontraumatic extraction of the fetus is necessary.

  Methods: Sixty pregnant women who were candidated for emergency cesarean and needed rapid uterine relaxation for different reasons were selected. These subjects underwent spinal anesthesia and at the time of uterine incision, 100 micrograms of nitroglycerin was injected to them intravenously. The time lapse between nitroglycerin administration and fetal extraction, the degree of uterine relaxation, the amount of intraoperative hemorrhage, uterine tone after fetal delivery and APGAR scores of the infants were all controlled and recorded. Also with regard to the vasodilatory effect of nitroglycerin and probably its resultant homodynamic problems, blood pressure, heart rate and arterial O₂ saturation were recorded before and after nitroglycerin injection and throughout the surgery.

  Results: The results showed that in 53 (88.3%) of the patients the uterus was acceptably relaxed and the fetus was delivered very easily. Only in 7 patients (11.7%) uterine relaxation was not acceptable. The mean decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressures after nitroglycerin administration compared with before injection BP was 12.97 mmHg (12.210 %) and 7.86 mmHg (12.208 %), respectively. There was not seen any prolonged effect of the drug such as uterus relaxation tone or abnormal bleeding. Also, none of the delivered infants had low APGAR scores. Besides, in patients with acceptable uterine relaxation the first and fifth minute APGAR score of infants were higher (p = 0.008, p = 0.000).

  Conclusion: This study shows that nitroglycerin can relax uterine smooth muscles very rapidly and transiently and in emergencies it can be an appropriate alternative to the other tocolytic agents with prolonged effect or onset time.

 Background & Objectives: One of the most common ways in intubation without muscle relaxant is using propofol and remifentanil. The common practice is injection of remifentanil and then propofol. This occasionally produces severe hemodynamic changes. The aim of this study is to inject propofol followed by remifentanil for evaluating the effect of the order of injection on decreasing these complications.

 Methods: 40 patients with American Society of Anesthesia (ASA) class I-II, who underwent minor elective surgery with airway mallampati class I-II entered the study. Patients were randomized into 2 groups each with 20 patients. The first group received 2.5mg/kg propofol followed by 1.5 g/mg remifentanil while the second group received 1.5 g/mg remifentanil followed by 2.5 mg/kg propofol. Laryngoscopy and hemodynamic changes were compared in two groups.

 Resutls: There was no difference between two groups in laryngoscopy attempts (P=0.145) but the frequency of easy laryngoscopy in the first group (85%) was more than the second group (60%) (P=0.031). Systolic blood pressure changes after laryngoscopy in the first group (20 7.7 mmHg) was less than the second group (28 6.7 mmHg) (P=0.001). There was no statistical significant difference between two groups in diastolic blood pressure and heart rate changes (P=0.88, P=0.86 respectively).

 Conclusion: Administrations of propofol before remifentanil during anesthesia induction produces acceptable hemodynamic changes in patients.

  Background & Objectives: A common side effect associated with succinylcoline is postoperative myalgia. The pathogenesis of this myalgia is still unclear therefore there is no ideal method of decreasing the rate and severity of fasciculation and postoperative myalgia. The aim of this prospective and randomized study was to evaluate the influence of low-dose succinylcholine for tracheal intubation on the rate and severity of fasciculation and postoperative myalgia.

  Methods: In this study, 60 patients of ASA physical grading I or II were randomly entered into two groups of 30 patients each. One fasciculation was evaluated on the basis of Mingus and myalgia on the basis of Harvey Induction of anesthesia was performed with fentanyl/thiopentone, and then succinylcholine 1 mg/kg (control group) and 0.6 mg/kg (case group) were administered to patients for tracheal intubation.

  Results: There was not fasciculation in 50% (15 patients) of study group and on the rest no severe fasciculation occurred. Furthermore, the severity of fasciculation in the study group was significantly lower than that of control group (p<0.0001). In 16 (53.3%) patients of study group and 4 (13.3%) of control group myalgia were not occurred. Severity of myalgia was also significantly lower in study group than the control group (p<0.0001). Acceptable intubating conditions in all patients of two groups.

  Conclusion: Decreasing the dose of succinylcholine (from 1 mg/kg to 0.6 mg/kg) both provides acceptable intubation conditions, and reduces the rate and intensity of succinylcholine induced fasciculation and postoperative myalgia.