title: Duration of vecuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade predicted by dose and onset time.
abstract: We investigated the adequacy of using dose and onset time as variables to predict the duration of action of vecuronium in patients. The onset time until 95% twitch depression and the duration until 25% twitch recovery were measured for doses ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 mg kg-1. Statistical analyses were performed by simple and multiple regressions. The duration of action was better predicted by dose (r2 = 0.61) than by onset time (r2 = 0.51). However, the predictability was significantly improved by a multiple regression model of the variables, and the explanatory power was largest when using the square root of duration as the dependent variable (r2 = 0.69). We conclude that the duration of neuromuscular blockade after vecuronium can be predicted more accurately by the combined use of dose and onset time than by dose alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, University of Bergen, Haukeland Sykehus, Norway.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rørvik
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Husby
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gramstad
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Vamnes
authors.forename: O E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Bøe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000187:drug effects*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D013997:Time Factors; D014673:Vecuronium Bromide / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D014673:Vecuronium Bromide