Objective: Endotracheal  intubation  is  an  integral  part  of  administration  of  anesthesia during  surgical  procedure.  The  time  interval  from  suppression  of  protective  reflexes  by induction,  to  accomplishment  of  intubation  is  a  critical  period,  during  which regurgitation  and  aspiration  of  acid  gastric  contents  can  occur.  Rapid  sequence intubation  is  proved  to  be  the  technique  of  choice  in  these  situations.  Method:  We studied  100  patients  of  either  sex  aged  18-70  years  of  ASA  grade- 1  and  2, with  mallampati  grade  1-2  undergoing  elective  surgery.  They  were  randomly  allocated  in two  groups – 50   each  to  compare  the  intubating  condition    of  inj.  Rocuronium  0.9mg/kg in Group 1 to  inj.  Suxamethonium  2mg/kg in Group 2.  Anaesthesia   was   induced  with   fentanyl  2 µg/kg  and   Propofol  2 mg/kg   and   intubating   conditions  were  assessed  60s  after  the  administration  of  the  neuromuscular  blocking  drug.  Intubating  conditions  were  graded on  a  three-point  scale  as  excellent,  good  or  poor,  the  first  two  being  considered clinically  acceptable.  Result: All  patients  were  successfully  intubated  in  both  groups. Overall  intubating  conditions  in  group  1  &  2  were  excellent  in  94%  and  100% patients  while  good  in  06%  and  00%  patients  respectively  with  not quite  statistically  significant  difference  (p>0.05).   Conclusion:  It  is  concluded  that rocuronium  0.9 mg/kg  can  be  used  as  an  alternative  to  suxamethonium  2.0 mg/kg  as part  of  a  rapid  sequence  induction  provided  there  is  no  anticipated  difficulty  in intubation. 

Keywords: Intubating Condition;  Rocuronium;  Suxamethonium;  Rapid Sequence Induction.