Effects of Deep Versus Moderate Neuromuscular Blockade on Intraoperative Respiratory Mechanics in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Renal Surgery: a Prospective, Randomized, Parallel Design Study

For patients randomized to the dNMB group, intravenous infusion of 0.6 mg/kg/h rocuronium will be administered 10 minutes after the administration of intubation dose or after the return of post-tetanic count (PTC), whichever comes first. Then, the infusion rate will be titrated according to PTC (target to keep PTC between 1 to 2). Infusion rate will be increased or be reduced at a rate of 0.1 mg/kg/h if PTC is > or < than 1-2 to maintain deep muscle relaxation throughout the surgery. Neuromuscular monitoring will be carried out by monitoring the adductor pollicis muscle in response to ulnar nerve stimulation. A dose of sugammadex (4 mg/kg) will be administered at the end of the surgery. Patients will be extubated when the train of four ratio is ≥0.9.

For patients randomized to the mNMB group, intravenous infusion of 0.2 mg/kg/h rocuronium will be administered 30 minutes after the administration of intubation dose or after the appearance of train-of-four (TOF) count >2, whichever comes first. Then, the infusion rate will be titrated according to TOF (target to keep TOF between 1 to 2). Infusion rate will be increased or reduced at a rate of 0.1 mg/kg/h if TOF is > or < than 1-2. A dose of sugammadex (2 mg/kg) will be administered at the end of the surgery. Patients will be extubated when the train of four ratio is ≥0.9.