At clinically relevant concentrations, propofol and sevoflurane did not influence involuntary isometric skeletal muscle strength in adults, whereas spinal anaesthesia reduced strength by about 20%. Muscle strength assessment using a device such as described here provided reliable results and should be considered for use in other scientific investigations to identify potential effects of anaesthetic agents.

This approach of non-invasive-stimulated muscle force assessment can be used in long-term critically ill patients and may eventually become a standard in the intensive care unit, e.g. for assessing recovery. This method is easy to employ, reproducible, provides important phenotypic quantification of skeletal muscle contractile function, and can be used for long-term outcomes assessment.

Variations in the genetic sequence of butyrylcholinesterase are frequent in patients with prolonged duration of action of succinylcholine. Direct sequencing of the whole butyrylcholinesterase gene is an appropriate method for genotyping and, accordingly, should be used in future clinical studies with drugs metabolized by this enzyme (e.g., succinylcholine, mivacurium).