Objective: Barbiturates have been demonstrated to reduce intracranial pressure (ICP), but adverse effects, which include hypotension and a long recovery time, make clinical applications difficult. Propofol is also known to have same effect. In the present study, we undertook coma therapy using propofol or barbiturate and compared clinical value in the practical point. Methods: From June 2004 to...

AIMS To determine the effects of premedication with thiopental on heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation during semi-elective nasotracheal intubation in neonates. METHODS A randomised, placebo controlled, non-blinded study design was used to study 30 neonates (mean birthweight 3.27 kg) requiring semi-elective nasotracheal intubation. The babies were randomly allocated to receive ei...

BACKGROUND Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are widely expressed in the central and autonomic nervous systems. The authors have previously shown that depressant and convulsant barbiturates both inhibit the ganglion-type nAchRs in PC12 cells. However, the central and gangliontype receptors have different subunit composition and pharmacologic properties. In this study, the auth...

BACKGROUND Lethal injection for execution was conceived as a comparatively humane alternative to electrocution or cyanide gas. The current protocols are based on one improvised by a medical examiner and an anesthesiologist in Oklahoma and are practiced on an ad hoc basis at the discretion of prison personnel. Each drug used, the ultrashort-acting barbiturate thiopental, the neuromuscular blocke...

BACKGROUND The authors have previously demonstrated that propofol attenuates capacitative calcium entry (CCE) via the protein kinase C signaling pathway in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PVSMCs). The current goals were to determine whether CCE exists in PVSMCs; to assess the roles of the protein kinase C, tyrosine kinase (TK), and rho-kinase signaling pathways in regulating CCE; and to i...

BACKGROUND Barbiturates have been shown to be neuroprotective in several animal models, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. In this study, the authors investigated the effect of barbiturates on free radical scavenging and attempted to correlate this with their neuroprotective effects in a model of hypoxic cell death in human NT2-N neurons. METHODS Hydroxyl radicals were generated by as...

The aim of the study was to examine intraocular pressure (IOP) changes during laparoscopic cholecystectomy performed under either desflurane-thiopental anesthesia or propofol total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA). 36 patients who will undergo elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were enrolled in the study. The patients were randomly divided into one of two groups: desflurane (Group D, n=18) or p...

Rabbits are widely used as laboratory animals for experimental surgery. Anesthesia of rabbits may present complications unless the method is easy to apply and safe to use. In present study, effects of different dosages of vitamin C on thiopental sodium induced anesthesia in 25 male New Zealand white rabbits were studied. In the animals that had not received vitamin C treatment before thiopental...

Studies were done on rats to determine whether thiopental loading after complete, transient, global brain ischemia causes more rapid postischemic normalization of brain tissue pH. Fifteen halothane-anesthetized rats were subjected to 16 min of complete global brain ischemia by a combination of systemic arterial hypotension (40 torr) and a high pressure (1500 torr) neck cuff. Brain tissue pH was...