| Item |
Information |
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Drug Groups
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approved |
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Description
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A barbiturate that is effective as a hypnotic and sedative. [PubChem] |
| Indication |
For the induction of anesthesia prior to the use of other general anesthetic agents and for induction of anesthesia for short surgical, diagnostic, or therapeutic procedures associated with minimal painful stimuli. |
| Pharmacology |
Hexobarbital is a barbiturate derivative having hypnotic and sedative effects. It was used in the 1940s-1950s as an agent for inducing anesthesia for surgery and has a relatively fast onset of effects and short duration of action. However it can be difficult to control the depth of anesthesia with hexobarbital which makes it quite dangerous, and it has now been replaced by safer drugs in human medicine, usually thiopental would be the barbiturate of choice for this application these days. |
| Toxicity |
Symptoms of an overdose typically include sluggishness, incoordination, difficulty in thinking, slowness of speech, faulty judgment, drowsiness or coma, shallow breathing, staggering, and in severe cases coma and death. |
| Affected Organisms |
| • |
Humans and other mammals |
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| Biotransformation |
Hepatic. |
| Protein Binding |
25% |
| References |
| • |
Takenoshita R, Toki S: [New aspects of hexobarbital metabolism: stereoselective metabolism, new metabolic pathway via GSH conjugation, and 3-hydroxyhexobarbital dehydrogenases] Yakugaku Zasshi. 2004 Dec;124(12):857-71.
[Pubmed]
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| • |
Wahlstrom G: A study of the duration of acute tolerance induced with hexobarbital in male rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1998 Apr;59(4):945-8.
[Pubmed]
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| • |
Korkmaz S, Ljungblad E, Wahlstrom G: Interaction between flumazenil and the anesthetic effects of hexobarbital in the rat. Brain Res. 1995 Apr 10;676(2):371-7.
[Pubmed]
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| • |
Dall V, Orntoft U, Schmidt A, Nordholm L: Interaction of the competitive AMPA receptor antagonist NBQX with hexobarbital. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1993 Sep;46(1):73-6.
[Pubmed]
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| External Links |
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