Efficacy of Atracurium-Vecuronium Combination in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Study.

INTRODUCTION: Deep neuromuscular blockade (d-NMB) is an essential requirement for carboperitoneum during laparoscopy surgery. However, sustaining d-NMB till the completion of surgery delays the reversal of the residual block. Therefore, there is a merit in exploring the effect of synergistic vecuronium-atracurium combination on the duration-of-action of d-NMB during "laparoscopic" surgery when we compare intubating bolus non-depolarizers (atracurium, vecuronium) administered alone. This study aims to evaluate whether the synergistic effect atracurium-vecuronium combination increases duration-of-action of d-NMB "laparoscopic" surgery settings.

METHODS: Forty-eight patients (18-60 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status- II/III, either sex) undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly allocated to receive vecuronium (vecuronium group, n = 16) or atracurium (atracurium group, n = 16) or vecuroniumatr-acurium combination (vecuronium-atracurium combination group, n = 16) and analyzed for the effects on the duration-of-action (primary objective); onset-of-action, reversibility, and quality of intubating conditions (secondary objectives) profile of neuromuscular blockade in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

RESULTS: Duration-of-action of neuromuscular blockade was significantly longer in patients who received atracurium-vecuronium combination (53.9 ± 9.7 minutes) versus atracurium-alone (41.1 ± 3.8 minutes) or vecuronium-alone (43.5 ± 9.2 minutes) (P = 0.000). No difference was found for the time to onset-of-action (vecuronium [198.1 ± 34.9 seconds], atracurium [188.5 ± 50.6 seconds], or atracurium-vecuronium combination [196.3 ± 46.3 seconds] [P = 0.829]); time for the reversal of muscle relaxation effect (vecuronium [559.9 ± 216.2 seconds], atracurium [584.7 ± 258.3 seconds], and atracurium-vecuronium combination [555.0 ± 205.4 seconds] [P = 0.925]); and quality-of-intubating conditions (vecuronium group [9.6 ± 1.3]; atracurium group [10.0 ± 0.0]; atracurium-vecuronium group [10.0 ± 0.0] [P = 0.182]).

CONCLUSION: The synergistic effect of the atracurium-vecuronium combination leads to an increased duration-of-action of d-NMB during laparoscopic cholecystectomy without impacting onset-of-action, quality of intubating conditions, and reversal of muscle relaxant effect.