AVAILABLE NEW DRUGS FOR SYSTEMIC CONTROL OF PREVIOUSLY DIFFICULT PAIN PROBLEMS

• The antagonisms among drugs have a double usefulness, as when a neurostimulant is used to overcome the excess of a depressant or vice versa. Special interest attaches to pairs of drugs that are closely related chemically but have opposite effects. A representative pair are the sodium salts of barbituric acid (a sedative) and of Megimide, which has a chemical structure very similar to that of a barbituric agent. A similar relation exists between morphine and nalorphine, which are thought of as competitive antagonists. Drugs that act on enzyme systems to dissociate the oxidizing from the phosphorylating reactions are also of current interest. New preparations for relieving tension, preventing nausea, and obviating postoperative pain are available, and a variety of nonbarbiturate sedatives and hypnotics here described can be adapted to special situations. The possibilities are such that the entire array of agents available to the anesthesiologist should be exploited to the utmost.