Acceleromyography
Encyclopedia
Acceleromyography is the measurement of the force produced by a muscle
Muscle
Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...

 after it has undergone nerve stimulation. It is most commonly employed after the use of anaesthetics to test for residual muscle weakness in the patient.

Rationale

Patients who undergo anesthesia may receive a drug that paralyzes
Paralysis
Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...

 muscles, improving operating conditions for the surgeon. Longer-acting drugs have higher residual blockade in the PACU
Pacú
Pacu or pacú is the common name of several South American fishes.PACU, Pacu or pacú may also refer to:*Piaractus mesopotamicus , a South American ray-finned fish that is endemic to the Paraguay-Paraná River basin*Tambaqui , known as black pacu, black-finned pacu, giant pacu*Philippine Association...

 or ICU
ICU
ICU may refer to:*I.C.U. , an Australian thriller starring Christian Radford*Intensive care unit, a specialized facility in a hospital that provides intensive care medicine...

 than shorter acting drugs. Different clinical tests to measure or exclude evidence of residual muscle weakness
Muscle weakness
Muscle weakness or myasthenia is a lack of muscle strength. The causes are many and can be divided into conditions that have true or perceived muscle weakness...

 have been described. Small degrees of muscle blockade can only accurately be measured by the use of quantitative neuromuscular monitoring. Specifically, the observer cannot reliably measure fade when train-of-four ratios are between 0.4 and 0.9.

Piezoelectric acceleromyographs

Though there are several types of quantitative monitors, the most popular, at least in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, is the acceleromyograph. With this device, muscle activity is measured using a miniature piezoelectric transducer that is attached to the stimulated muscle. A voltage is created when the muscle accelerates and that acceleration is proportion to force of contraction. Acceleromyographs are more costly than the more common twitch monitors, but have ben shown to better alleviate residual blockade, associated unpleasant symptoms of muscle weakness, and overall quality of recovery.

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