Outline the mechanisms that potentiate the action of non-depolarising muscle relaxants and give examples.
A structured approach would work well for this question but was often lacking. Many answers
were superficial providing short lists of factors affecting NDMRs without reference to
mechanism. Candidates failed to differentiate factors which potentiate NDMRs from those which
inhibit the action of the drugs. Some confusion also existed confusing speed of onset kinetics
with potentiation kinetics. Candidates who structured their answer into pharmacokinetic and
pharmacodynamic factors generally scored better marks. Candidates who used pre-post synaptic
type structure tended to omit kinetics completely from their answers. Incorrect facts were
common.