Respiratory mechanics in supine subjects during progressive partial curarization

Respiratory mechanics were studied in six supine conscious volunteers during progressive muscle weakness produced by infusion of d-tubocurarine. Partial curarization was carried out to the point of abolishing head lift ability and handgrip strength. At all levels of partial paralysis, expiratory muscle strength was significantly more impaired than inspiratory strength. Despite this, subjects maintained relatively normal maximal expiratory flow rates, whereas inspiratory flows decreased significantly. The diminished inspiratory flows are not fully explained by decreased driving pressures during force inspiration, since inspiratory resistance increased significantly with the decreased flow. Inspiratory flow patterns suggest a variable extrathoracic obstruction most likely due to the absence of normal airway abductor activity during inspiration. Maximal respiratory muscle weakness decreased forced vital capacity by 29% and total lung capacity by 15%. The decreased level of lung inflation did not alter lung elastic recoil. Functional residual capacity was unchanged, but inspiratory capacity decreased by 25% and residual volume increased by 38%. These changes are in accord with predictions based on the decreased muscle strength and normal respiratory system recoil.

Function of respiratory muscles during partial curarization in humans

The effects of submaximal neuromuscular blockade (SMNB) on the recruitment (or derecruitment) of the respiratory muscles during different types of respiratory maneuvers were studied in four healthy males infused slowly with pancuronium. The effects on lung mechanics were similar to those observed previously in that lung recoil pressure during inspiration did not change while the chest wall pressure-volume (PV) curve was shifted to the right (Rahn diagram). In each subject, SMNB produced a large increase in abdominal (gastric) and transdiaphragmatic pressures at any given lung volume during inspiration, reflecting greater diaphragmatic contribution to respiratory pressure swings. In addition, using concentric needle electrodes, we observed a marked fall in electrical (tonic and phasic) activity in the abdominal and in the intercostal/accessory muscles during SMNB but a slight increase in diaphragmatic activity. This pattern of changes was accentuated as ventilation increased. These findings indicate that the diaphragm is more resistant to curare than the other respiratory muscles in humans and that the transposition of the chest wall PV curve during SMNB is related to a loss of tonic activity in the intercostal musculature. The difference in sensitivity toward curare between the diaphragm and the other respiratory muscles is probably related to a difference in the safety margin at the neuromuscular synapses.