Anaesthesia
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We compared the efficacy and safety of sugammadex and neostigmine in reversing neuromuscular blockade in adults. Our outcomes were: recovery time from second twitch to train-of-four ratio > 0.9; recovery time from post-tetanic count 1-5 to train-of-four ratio > 0.9; and risk of composite adverse and serious adverse events. We searched for randomised clinical trials irrespective of publication status and date, blinding status, outcomes reported or language. ⋯ Specifically, the risk of bradycardia (RR (95%CI) 0.16 (0.07-0.34), n = 1218, NNT: 14, GRADE: moderate quality), postoperative nausea and vomiting (RR (95%CI) 0.52 (0.28-0.97), n = 389, NNT: 16, GRADE: low quality) and overall signs of postoperative residual paralysis (RR (95%CI) 0.40 (0.28-0.57), n = 1474, NNT: 13, GRADE: moderate quality) were all reduced. There was no significant difference regarding the risk of serious adverse events (RR 0.54, 95%CI 0.13-2.25, I2 = 0%, n = 959, GRADE: low quality). Sugammadex reverses neuromuscular blockade more rapidly than neostigmine and is associated with fewer adverse events.