Vecuronium bromide, sold under the brand name Norcuron among others, is a medication used as part of general anesthesia to provide skeletal muscle relaxation during surgery or mechanical ventilation. It is also used to help with endotracheal intubation; however, agents such as suxamethonium (succinylcholine) or rocuronium are generally preferred if this needs to be done quickly. It is given by injection into a vein. Effects are greatest at about 4 minutes and last for up to an hour. Side effects may include low blood pressure and prolonged paralysis. Allergic reactions are rare. It is unclear if use in pregnancy is safe for the baby. Vecuronium is in the aminosteroid neuromuscular-blocker family of medications and is of the non-depolarizing type. It works by competitively blocking the action of acetylcholine on skeletal muscles. The effects may be reversed with sugammadex or a combination of neostigmine and glycopyrrolate. To minimize residual blockade, reversal should only be attempted if some degree of spontaneous recovery has been achieved. Vecuronium was approved for medical use in the United States in 1984 and is available as a generic medication. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Mechanism of action Vecuronium operates by competing for the cholinoceptors at the motor end plate, thereby exerting its muscle-relaxing properties, which are used adjunctively to general anesthesia. Under balanced anesthesia, the time to recovery to 25% of control (clinical duration) is approximately 25 to 40 minutes after injection and recovery is usually 95% complete approximately 45 to 65 minutes after injection of an intubating dose. The neuromuscular blocking action of vecuronium is slightly enhanced in the presence of potent inhalation anesthetics. If vecuronium is first administered more than 5 minutes after the start of the inhalation of enflurane, isoflurane, or halothane, or when a steady state has been achieved, the intubating dose of vecuronium may be decreased by approximately 15%. Vecuronium has an active metabolite, 3-desacetyl-vecuronium, that has 80% of the effect of vecuronium. Accumulation of this metabolite, which is cleared by the kidneys, can prolong the duration of action of the drug, particularly when an infusion is used in a person with kidney failure. Reversal of vecuronium can be accomplished by administration of sugammadex which is a γ-cyclodextrin which encapsulates vecuronium preventing it from binding to receptors. Reversal can also be accomplished with neostigmine or other cholinesterase inhibitors, but their efficacy is lower than that of