The transfer of fentanyl has been studied in the perfused in situ rabbit placenta. Does were infused with fentanyl and, subsequently, with fentanyl plus bupivacaine and pethidine. Antipyrine was infused throughout as an index of materno-fetal exchange. The fetal side of one placenta was perfused artificially with Krebs buffer containing dextran, and the effluent collected from the umbilical vei...

The concentrations of norpethidine in blood were determined in patients recovering from abdominal surgery following both multiple i.m. injections (i.m. group) and the i.v. infusion (i.v. group) of pethidine. The rate of administration of pethidine averaged 25 mg h-1 in both groups. Concentrations of norpethidine were generally small compared with those of pethidine although the ratio of norpeth...

Sixty patients who shivered after routine surgery under general anaesthesia were allocated randomly to receive normal saline (n = 20), doxapram 1.5 mg kg-1 (n = 20) or pethidine 0.33 mg kg-1 (n = 20). Both doxapram and pethidine were effective in treating postoperative shivering 2-3 min after i.v. administration. In the group who received normal saline, 15 patients were still shivering 10 min a...

BACKGROUND Hypothermia is a promising experimental treatment for acute ischemic stroke. Human trials are still at an early stage, with the focus now on using hypothermia in awake patients. Pethidine (meperidine) is the principle agent used to control shivering in humans; however, whether it has any modulating effects on the neuroprotective efficacy of hypothermia is unknown. AIM The aim of th...

In seven neonates, whose mothers were given pethidine during labour, urine was collected for the first 24-40 h of life. Urinary volume and pH, and concentrations of pethidine and norpethidine in the urine were measured. Urine flow rate was low for the first 7-22 h, and then high for about 12 h. The rate of excretion of pethidine and norepethidine was approximately parallel to the urine flow rat...

The ventilatory effects of single i.v. doses of morphine 0.1 mg kg-1, pethidine 0.67 mg kg-1 and methadone 0.1 mg kg-1 were compared after ophthalmic surgery in an open, randomized study in 30 children aged 3-8 yr. Ventilatory changes after each drug had distinctive profiles, with appreciable individual variation. Acutely, the decrease in ventilatory frequency was greater with pethidine and met...

A double-blind, between-patient, two-dose comparison was comparison was performed with pethidine and nefopam in 100 subjects, the majority of whom were recovering from upper abdominal surgery. Either 15 or 30 mg of nefopam or 50 or 100 mg of pethidine were given by i.m. injection in a random order. All assessments were made by the same observer on the first day after operation, at least 4 h aft...

BACKGROUND Pethidine, an opioid analgesic is used for pain management. Clomipramine a tricyclic antidepressant primarily used for mood management is also used to treat pain. The objective of this study was to investigate the potentiation of the analgesic effects of sub-threshold dose of pethidine by a tricyclic antidepressant, clomipramine. METHODS The antinociceptive activities of clomiprami...

Pethidine or an epidural injection of bupivacaine are common forms of obstetric analgesia in Britain. Bupivacaine has been thought to have little effect on the fetus, but neurobehavioural studies have cast doubt on this. We therefore investigated the elimination of these drugs by babies in similar population groups. Bupivacaine was largely eliminated in just over one day, while pethidine requir...