Bronchospasm following the use of vecuronium.

A case history is presented which records bronchospasm due to vecuronium. Immunological investigations, including basophil degranulation tests, indicated that the bronchospasm was not caused by direct histamine release and was not IgE mediated. It was of interest that intradermal testing gave a positive wheal response against neuromuscular agents other than those involved in the anaesthetic procedure under investigation. A positive reaction to vecuronium was only obtained when given in a high concentration and accords with the general belief that vecuronium has extremely low potential for histamine release.