Sodium thiopental, also known as Sodium Pentothal (a trademark of Abbott Laboratories), thiopental, thiopentone, or Trapanal (also a trademark), is a rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate general anesthetic that is an analogue of thiobarbital. Sodium thiopental is a core medicine in the World Health Organization's "Essential Drugs List", which is a list of minimum medical needs for a basic healthcare system.It was previously the first of three drugs administered during most lethal injections in the United States, but the US manufacturer Hospira stopped manufacturing the drug and the EU banned the export of the drug for this purpose.
Medically induced coma
In addition to anesthesia induction, sodium thiopental was historically used to induce medical comas. It has now been superseded by drugs such as propofol because their effects wear off more quickly than thiopental. However, extended use of propofol risks the onset of propofol infusion syndrome.
Patients with brain swelling, causing elevation of the intracranial pressure, either secondary to trauma or following surgery, may benefit from this drug. Sodium thiopental, and the barbiturate class of drugs, decrease neuronal activity and therefore decrease the production of osmotically active metabolites, which in turn decreases swelling. Patients with significant swelling have improved outcomes following the induction of coma. Reportedly, thiopental has been shown to be superior to pentobarbital in reducing intracranial pressure.This phenomenon is also termed as Reverse steal Effect.
from:Rare Metals
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