There are advantages to be gained from using an oral barbiturate as a pre-operative sedative. Heptabarbitone (Medomin) has been given in a dose of 400 mg to fifty healthy patients undergoing minor gynaecological operations. Using a scoring system, the sedative effects of diis drug have been measured and found to be comparable with the sedation produced by papaveretum 20 mg and hyoscine 0.4 mg a...