Changes in acetylcholine receptor number in muscle from critically ill patients receiving muscle relaxants: an investigation of the molecular mechanism of prolonged paralysis.

Objective: Previous reports have described prolonged paralysis after the administration of muscle relaxants in critically ill patients. The purpose of this study was to examine possible pathophysiologic causes for this paralysis by measuring muscle-type, nicotinic acetylcholine receptor number in necropsy muscle specimens from patients who had received muscle relaxants to facilitate mechanical ventilation before death.

Design: Prospective laboratory study of human muscle collected at autopsy.