Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Pancuronium bromide is a chemical compound, used in medicine with the brand name PavulonŽ (Organon Pharmaceuticals). It is a nondepolarizing medium-term muscle relaxant and works by curarimimetic action - the competitive antagonism with acetylcholine of the autonomic cholinergic receptors. With the correct intravenous dosage the effects last around 45 minutes and it is used with general anaesthesia in surgery for muscle relaxation and as an aid to intubation or ventilation. It does not have sedative or analgesic effects. Side effects include moderately raised heart rate and thereby arterial pressure and cardiac output, excessive salivation, apnea and respiratory depression, rashes, flushing and sweating. The muscular relaxation can be dangerous in the seriously ill and it can accumulate leading to extended weakness. Its empirical formula is: C35H60Br2N2O 4 Its structural name is 3α, 17β - diacetoxy - 5α - androstan - 2β, 16β - ylene bis [1 - methylpiperidinium] dibromide This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.