Back مرخيات العضلات Arabic Miorelaxant Catalan Myorelaxans Czech Muskelrelaxans German Relajante muscular Spanish Lihasrelaksantit Finnish Myorelaxant French Miorilassante Italian 筋弛緩薬 Japanese 근이완제 Korean

Muscle relaxant

This article is about skeletal muscle relaxants. For smooth muscle relaxants, see Antispasmodic.

A muscle relaxant is a drug that affects skeletal muscle function and decreases the muscle tone. It may be used to alleviate symptoms such as muscle spasms, pain, and hyperreflexia. The term "muscle relaxant" is used to refer to two major therapeutic groups: neuromuscular blockers and spasmolytics. Neuromuscular blockers act by interfering with transmission at the neuromuscular end plate and have no central nervous system (CNS) activity. They are often used during surgical procedures and in intensive care and emergency medicine to cause temporary paralysis. Spasmolytics, also known as "centrally acting" muscle relaxant, are used to alleviate musculoskeletal pain and spasms and to reduce spasticity in a variety of neurological conditions. While both neuromuscular blockers and spasmolytics are often grouped together as muscle relaxant,[1][2] the term is commonly used to refer to spasmolytics only.[3][4]

  1. ^ "Definition of Muscle relaxant Archived 2013-10-16 at the Wayback Machine." MedicineNet.com. (c) 1996–2007. Retrieved on September 19, 2007.
  2. ^ "muscle relaxant Archived 2013-10-06 at the Wayback Machine." mediLexicon Archived 2013-10-06 at the Wayback Machine. (c) 2007. Retrieved on September 19, 2007.
  3. ^ "Muscle relaxants." WebMD. Last Updated: February 15, 2006. Retrieved on September 19, 2007.
  4. ^ "Skeletal Muscle Relaxant (Oral Route, Parenteral Route)." Mayo Clinic. Last Updated: April 1, 2007. Retrieved on September 19, 2007.

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