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Zemuron: Uses, Side Effects and Dosage

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Facts
Status:
Prescription (Rx) Current status: Cancelled Post Market
Strength:
10 mg
Active ingredient:
ATC code:
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Source: Health Canada – Drug Product Database (DPD) and product monographs · About this document

Patient Medication Information: uses, side effects, how to take - Zemuron

ABOUT THIS MEDICATION

What the medication is used for:

ZEMURON® is one of a group of drugs called muscle relaxants for anesthesia. These drugs are used during an operation as part of the general anesthetic. When you have an operation your muscles may have to be completely relaxed. This makes it easier for the surgeon to perform the operation.

What it does:

ZEMURON® blocks the nerve impulses to move your muscles. Because the muscles needed for breathing also become relaxed you will need help with your breathing (artificial respiration) during and after your operation until you can breathe on your own. At the end of surgery the effects of ZEMURON® are allowed to wear off and you can start breathing on your own. Sometimes another drug is given to help speed this up.

When it should not be used:

If you are hypersensitive (allergic) to rocuronium, the bromide ion or any of the other ingredients in ZEMURON®.

What the medicinal ingredient is:

rocuronium bromide

What the nonmedicinal ingredients are:

Acetic acid, nitrogen, sodium acetate, sodium chloride, water for injections.

Each milliliter (mL) ZEMURON® contains 1.72 mg sodium. No preservative has been added.

What dosage forms it comes in:

ZEMURON® is a colorless to slightly yellow/brown solution for injection or infusion containing 10 mg/mL rocuronium bromide. It is available in vials containing 50 mg (10 vials per pack) and 100 mg rocuronium bromide (10 vials per pack).

Not all pack sizes may be marketed.

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Serious Warnings and Precautions

As for all drugs used during an operation, this drug should be administered only in a facility prepared to give resuscitation and life support by adequately trained health care professionals familiar with its actions, characteristics, and hazards.

Your medical history can influence the way that ZEMURON® is given to you. Tell your doctor if you have now or have ever had any of the following:

  • an allergy to muscle relaxants
  • a decreased kidney function or kidney disease
  • a heart disease or heart valve disease
  • pulmonary hypertension
  • oedema (fluid retention for example at the ankles)
  • recent, severe vomiting, diarrhea, and “water pill” use
  • a liver or gallbladder disease or decreased liver function
  • diseases affecting nerves or muscles.

Tell your doctor if you have any other medical conditions, as they may influence how ZEMURON® works.

Elderly / Children

ZEMURON® can be used in children (from term newborns to adolescents) and elderly.

Pregnancy and Breast-Feeding

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, or suspect that you are pregnant, or if you are breast-feeding.

Driving and Using Machines

Your doctor will inform you when it is safe to drive and operate potentially dangerous machinery after you have been administered ZEMURON®.

INTERACTIONS WITH THIS MEDICATION

Tell your doctor if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines, including medicines obtained without a prescription. This will help your doctor to decide the correct dose of ZEMURON® for you.

PROPER USE OF THIS MEDICATION

Usual Dose:

The doctor will determine the dose. You will be given ZEMURON® before and/or during a surgical procedure. The usual dose is 0.6 mg rocuronium bromide per kg body weight and the effect lasts about 30 to 40 minutes. Your doctor may adjust the dose according to your need during the surgery.

Method and route of administration:

ZEMURON® is given by an adequately trained health care professional. It is not meant to be administered by yourself. ZEMURON® is injected in a vein as a solution. It is administered as one single injection or continuous infusion.

Only an adequately trained health care professional may give ZEMURON®.

Overdose:

As medical personnel will be monitoring your condition during the procedure it is unlikely that you will be given too much ZEMURON®. However, if this happens artificial respiration will be continued until you are able to breathe again on your own. It is possible to counteract the effects of (too much) ZEMURON® and speed-up your recovery by giving you a drug that reverses the effects of ZEMURON®.

SIDE EFFECTS AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM

Like all medicines, ZEMURON® can have side effects, although not everybody gets them.

AFTER SURGERY

SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM

For the following serious side effects, you must seek immediate emergency medical treatment.
  • Allergic reactions (rash, swelling of the face, throat, lips, difficulty breathing).
  • Feeling cold and/or clammy
  • Difficulty breathing/choking/wheezing
  • Muscle weakness or paralysis
  • Rapid or slow heart beat
  • Sudden fever with rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing and stiffness, pain and weakness in your muscles
  • Seizure/seizure-like activity
For the following serious side effects, call your doctor or pharmacist.
  • Dizziness especially upon standing up quickly
  • High or low blood pressure if measured
  • Severe itching
  • Increase or decrease in blood glucose if measured
  • Jaundice/yellowing of the skin/eyeballs

This is not a complete list of side effects. For any unexpected effects after receiving ZEMURON®, contact your doctor or pharmacist.

HOW TO STORE IT

ZEMURON® is handled only by qualified professionals.

REPORTING SUSPECTED SIDE EFFECTS

You can report any suspected adverse reactions associated with the use of health products to the Canada Vigilance Program by one of the following 3 ways:

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  • Report online at www.healthcanada.gc.ca/medeffect
  • Call toll-free at 1-866-234-2345

  • Complete a Canada Vigilance Reporting Form and:

    • Fax toll-free to 1-866-678-6789, or

    • Mail to: Canada Vigilance Program

      Health Canada

      Postal Locator 1908C

      Ottawa, Ontario

      K1A 0K9

Postage paid labels, Canada Vigilance Reporting Form and the adverse reaction reporting guidelines are available on the MedEffect™ Canada Web site at www.healthcanada.gc.ca/medeffect.

or at Merck Canada Inc. by one of the following 2 ways:

  • Call toll-free at 1-800-567-2594

  • Complete a Canada Vigilance Reporting Form and:

    • Fax toll-free to 1-800-369-3090, or

    • Mail to: Merck Canada Inc.

      Pharmacovigilance

      16750 route Transcanadienne

      Kirkland, QC H9H 4M7

NOTE: Should you require information related to the management of side effects, contact your health professional. The Canada Vigilance Program does not provide medical advice.

MORE INFORMATION

This document plus the full product monograph, prepared for health professionals can be found at www.merck.ca or by contacting the sponsor, Merck Canada Inc. at: 1-800-567-2594.

Last Revised: November 5, 2018

® Registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme B.V. Used under license.

© 2011, 2018 Merck Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

About this document

Source: Health Canada – Drug Product Database (DPD) and product monographs · DIN (Drug Identification Number): 02108208

Revision date stated in the text: November 5, 2018

Found a mistake? Write to us via the contact page.

The information on this site does not replace the advice of a doctor or pharmacist.

Drug information for Zemuron

Rx or OTC
Prescription (Rx)?
DIN 02108208
Schedule(s) PRESCRIPTION
Active ingredient(s) Rocuronium bromide 10 MG
Dosage form(s) Solution
Route(s) of administration Intravenous
Drug class (WHO ATC)
  1. M Musculo-skeletal system drugs
    1. M03 Muscle relaxants
      1. M03A Muscle relaxants, peripherally acting agents
        1. M03AC Other quaternary ammonium compounds, muscle relaxants, peripherally acting
          1. M03AC09 Rocuronium bromide
Company MERCK CANADA INC
Current status Cancelled Post Market
Current status date February 5, 2018

Source: Health Canada – Drug Product Database (DPD) and product monographs, data as of November 1, 2026. Data from the Health Canada Drug Product Database, as published there. Not a substitute for the advice of a doctor or pharmacist.