Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, Vol 12, 281-287, Copyright © 1965 by Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society

Influence of Doxapram Hydrochloride on Recovery from Thiopental Anaesthesia

¹ Department of Anesthesiology, State University of New York, Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, NY 13210

Cross-over experiments performed in dogs showed that Doxapram hydrochloride in a single-dose injection was as effective as d-amphetamme in shortening the recovery time from a standardized dose of thiopental anaesthesia and was more effective than methylphenidate in the dosages that were compared. No untoward effects were observed in any of these experiments.

When Doxapram hydrochloride was used in an intravenous infusion method for 50 healthy female patients following an elective dilation and curettage of the uterus, the drug was effective for stimulationg respirations (both tidal volume and respiration rate) without producing any appreciable circulatory changes. In four instances, there were signs of central nervous system irritation which subsided prompltly upon discontinuation of the Doxapram infusion.

An appreciable difference in the time for full recovery to occur was found between patients receving the analeptic and others who did not Direct clinical observation leaves no doubt that an arousal effect is produced which persists along with the augmneted breathing response. However, an accelerated recovery from thiopental anaesthesia is not a prominent effect with respect to the expected recovery time because it did not appreciably reduce the total "sleeping time" following a double "sleep dose" of thiopental in humans.