Muscle relaxant
In medicine, a muscle relaxant is a drug that causes skeletal muscle contraction to cease. Muscle relaxants are used to facilitate surgery, to enable tracheal intubation and to facilitate mechanical ventilation.Muscles relaxants typically work by blocking the effect of acetylcholine (ACh) at the neuromuscular junction.
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2 Other mechanisms 3 Central acting muscle relaxants 4 Acting on smooth muscle |
Depolarising muscles relaxants activate the muscle briefly, before blocking it.
Receptor blockers
Substances that compete with ACh, for the receptors on a muscle cell can be either depolarising, or non-depolarising.Other mechanisms
Botulinum toxin, marketed as Botox for facial wrinkle removal, works by stopping the release of ACh from the presynaptic neuron.
