What is Anectine®?

Anectine® is the brand name for the medication succinylcholine chloride. It is used to relax the skeletal muscles when it is necessary to control the involuntary movements of the body's muscles. The medication is a white powder that dissolves in water and is then administered by a medical professional via an injection. It often is used for coma patients and for patients undergoing surgery.

Many times, Anectine® will be administered to a comatose individual to control certain reflexes that can make him or her difficult to treat. If the individual must be placed on a respirator or have a tube inserted into the stomach or airways, a dose of the muscle relaxant will help make it easier for these procedures to be conducted. This will help to keep the body's natural, involuntary reactions, such as a gag reflex, under control.

It can also be an invaluable drug during surgery. Once the patient is under anesthesia, administering Anectine® can help control the involuntary muscle movements that might otherwise interfere with delicate and exact surgical procedures. The medication helps with the relaxation of muscles and, in turn, the entire skeletal system.

Proper dosage of Anectine® depends on both the individual and the reason for its use. Short surgical procedures will require a much smaller dose than long procedures or for those who must be stabilized for further treatment. For particularly long procedures, more than one small dose can be given across the duration of the event. The higher the dose, the more relaxed the muscles become; this can also impact the level and frequency of dosing.

Injected directly into the vein, Anectine® is generally prepared by a health professional and administered only in a clinical setting. Safe for infants, children and adults, the preferred method of injection is directly into a vein. If this is not possible, it can also be injected into a muscle. This procedure sometimes has to be done with infants and those too small to have sufficiently large veins for the injection. In these cases, doses of the drug are usually small.

As Anectine® impacts the strength of the muscles, it is possible that some individuals can suffer from slow and irregular heartbeat, depressed respiratory function and difficulty breathing, and failure of the renal system. These are all systems controlled by the involuntary muscle movements that are depressed by the drug and need to be monitored carefully as long as the drug is active in the system. This is one of the main reasons the drug is administered in a clinical setting, as there is access to life-saving equipment should the patient develop an extremely adverse reaction.