Rapacuronium: clinical pharmacology.

Abstract

The need for a rapid-acting non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agent with a short duration of action resulted in the synthesis of rapacuronium. The onset of maximum block with rapacuronium occurs in 60-90 s with doses of 1.5-2.5 mg kg-1 with a duration of clinical relaxation of 15-30 min. Rapacuronium provides clinically acceptable intubating conditions in 60 s in a majority of patients with these doses, although the conditions are somewhat inferior to those obtained with succinylcholine in lightly anaesthetized patients, such as those undergoing a rapid-sequence induction. The main drawbacks of rapacuronium are the occurrence of dose-related pulmonary side-effects (increased airway pressure and/or overt bronchospasm) and hypotension and tachycardia. The cause of pulmonary side-effects is not certain but these have been serious enough to make its worldwide introduction doubtful.

• Authors: R K Mirakhur, K C McCourt
• Journal: European journal of anaesthesiology. Supplement (Eur J Anaesthesiol Suppl) Vol. 23 Pg. 77-82 ( 2001) ISSN: 0952-1941 [Print] England
• PMID: 11766252 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents
• Vecuronium Bromide
• rapacuronium

Topics

• Animals
• Humans
• Intubation, Intratracheal
• Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents (adverse effects, antagonists & inhibitors, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology)
• Vecuronium Bromide (adverse effects, analogs & derivatives, antagonists & inhibitors, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology)