The effects of nicardipine and verapamil on the recovery time of vecuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade]

The present study investigated the effects of intravenous therapeutic dose of either nicardipine or verapamil on the recovery from transient neuromuscular blockade produced by vecuronium in 21 adult patients scheduled for elective surgery. Neuromuscular function was evaluated by single twitch height (T1), an amplitude of activity of the ulnar nerve being evoked by an electrical stimulation (0.2 msec, 0.1 Hz) under N2O/O2 and halothane anesthesia. The patients given vecuronium were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups: a control group who received no Ca entry blocker, nicardipine group and verapamil group. Nicardipine (30 mcg.kg-1) or verapamil (50 mcg.kg-1) was injected when T1 reached to 10% of the control twitch height. The recovery time of vecuronium (the time between 25% and 75% recovery) was not different significantly among the control (9.4 +/- 3.7 min), nicardipine (8.5 +/- 3.1 min) and verapamil (9.8 +/- 4.3 min) groups. We conclude that a therapeutic dose of either nicardipine or verapamil could be safely given intravenously to the patients under vecuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade.