This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal

II. Comparative Effects of Pentobarbital and Morphine

HARRIS E. HILL, Ph.D.; RICHARD E. BELLEVILLE, M.A.; ABRAHAM WIKLER, M.D.

A.M.A. Arch Neurol Psychiatry. 1955;73(6):602-608.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Traditional thinking and practice favor the belief that the barbiturates are not effective as analgesics. Indeed, Goodman and Gilman¹ have stated that they are likely to induce delirium if given under conditions of pain. Several investigators have mentioned the failure of barbiturates to elevate the pain threshold when measured by the Wolff-Hardy-Goodell technique,² and such failure has also been reported when other techniques employing animal subjects were used.* Recently, however, Keats and Beecher have questioned this position in a publication which reports that pentobarbital, although not being as potent as morphine, relieved severe pain in 50% of postoperative patients.

Facilities are not available at this institution for direct clinical studies on the value of barbiturates as analgesics. However, we have approached the problem indirectly on the assumption, previously validated in the case of morphine, that one of the important mechanisms through which drugs exert analgesic action is by . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Lexington, Ky.

From the National Institute of Mental Health, Addiction Research Center, U. S. Public Health Service Hospital.