Succinylcholine and intracranial pressure
Bolus injections of succinylcholine (1.5mg/kg) signifcantly increased intracranial pressure (ICP) in cats under normal conditions from control levels of 8 +/-1 mmHg to 16 +/-3 mmHg (+/-SEM, P less than 0.01), and in the presence of artifcially increased ICP from control levels of 27 +/-1 mmHg to 47 +/-4 mmHg (P less than 0.01). Tese approximately 100% increases in ICP were accompanied by a transitory decrease in mean arterial pressure (approximately 10 s), followed by a 15 to 20% increase (P less than 0.05). Pulmonary arterial pressure increased 20 to 30% (P less than 0.05). Tese results, when considered in conjunction with results previously obtained in humans, suggest that succinylcholine may be contraindicated in neurosurgical patients. © 2018, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Inc. Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All Rights Reserved.