Muscle relaxation with an infusion of vecuronium

Vecuronium was administered by a continuous intravenous infusion following a bolus dose of 0.1 mg kg-1 in 10 patients. Following recovery of twitch height to 10% of control, steady state dose requirement for maintaining a 90% block was attained in an average of 15.4 min. The average dose required was 0.083 mg kg-1 h-1 or 3.27 mg m-2 h-1. Large individual variations were observed but each patient required an approximately constant dose over periods up to 4.5 h. Recovery was prompt following cessation of infusion.