Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, Vol 7, 16-20, Copyright © 1960 by Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society

The Effect of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (Delysid, LSD-25) on Thiopental Recovery

¹ Department of Anaesthesia, University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine and University Hospital, Saskatoon, Sask

Two groups of 55 consecutive female patients were observed closely to determine the recover time from thiopental-nitrous oxide anaesthesia after a short standard operative procedure. Uterine dilatation and curettage was the operation chosen because it produces very little surgical trauma and requires only a relatively light level of anaesthesia. The first group of patients served as a control. In the second group, each patient received 25 µg of LSD-25 immediately after the end of anaesthesia.

There was no significant difference in the time required for awakening in the two groups as measured by four end points: response to verbal command (open your eyes), sluggish verbal response (what is your name), alert verbal response (where do you live), and Bender face-hand test (identify simultaneous touch stimulus to face and contralateral arm). There were also no distinguishing cardiovascular or overt psychic changes observed in any of the patients who received LSD-25. It was suggested, however, that one may be justified in testing the effectiveness of a much larger dose of LSD-25. When a very large overdose of a barbiturate has been injected or taken orally with suicidal intent.