Efficacy and safety of sugammadex doses calculated on the basis of corrected body weight and total body weight for the reversal of deep neuromuscular blockade in morbidly obese patients

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the efficacy and safety of sugammadex doses calculated using corrected body weight (CBW) for reversing deep rocuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade (NMB) in morbidly obese patients undergoing laparoscopic bariatric surgery. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-five morbidly obese patients were randomly assigned to three groups: (1) a CBW group, n = 50; (2) a total body weight (TBW) group, n = 50; and (3) a control group, n = 25. Deep NMB was maintained using a continuous infusion of rocuronium. At the reappearance of 1 to 2 post-tetanic counts (PTCs), 4 mg/kg sugammadex, calculated using CBW or TBW, were administered. RESULTS: All the participants in the CBW and TBW groups recovered to a train-of-four (TOF) ratio of 0.9 within 5 minutes. The recovery times from the start of sugammadex administration to a TOF ratio of 0.9 were 2.2 ± 0.7 and 2.0 ± 0.7 minutes in the CBW and TBW groups, respectively. Thus, a sugammadex dose calculated using CBW was not inferior to that calculated using TBW for the reversal of rocuronium-induced deep NMB in morbidly obese patients. CONCLUSION: A dose of 4 mg/kg of sugammadex calculated using CBW is efficient and safe for the reversal of deep NMB after a continuous infusion of rocuronium in morbidly obese patients. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR1900028652 (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, www.chictr.org.cn)