The most useful qualities of a NMBD for pediatric anesthesia are: rapid, reliable onset of laryngeal muscle block after IV or IM administration, duration of < or =20 min, and lack of side effects. Until recently, no nondepolarizer met all these criteria. However, 2 mg/kg rapacuronium produces rapid laryngeal block that can be easily reversed to restore neuromuscular function within 20 min in most pediatric patients.