Pharmacokinetics of succinylcholine in infants, children, and adults.

The elimination of succinylcholine appears to follow first-order kinetics with a linear relationship between intensity of effect and logarithm of the dose. Determination of the time-course of neuromuscular blockade following succinylcholine in infants and children allowed us to compare the rate of recovery and elimination rate constant with those determined by others in adults. The rate of recovery was independent of dose for each age group. The rate of recovery was faster in children than in infants; the rate of recovery of infants was faster than that of adults. The elimination rate constant for infants was similar to that of children; for both the infants and children the rate constants appeared dissimilar from those of adults.