CARDIOVASCULAR EFFECTS OF PANCURONIUM IN MAN

We have investigated the effects of pancuronium bromide (0.07 mg/kg body weight) on heart rate, mean arterial blood pressure, cardiac output and calculated total peripheral resistance in ten artificially ventilated patients, anaesthetized with 60 per cent nitrous oxide in oxygen plus phenoperidine (1 mg/15 kg body weight). End-tidal Pco2 was maintained constant at 30±2 mm Hg. There was a marked and statistically significant increase of heart rate of about 25 per cent, accompanied by lesser, but still statistically significant, incerases of cardiac output and mean arterial blood pressure. Total peripheral resistance was unchanged, suggesting that pancuronium has little ganglion-blocking activity.