Controlled analgesia with continuous drip meperidine analysis of one thousand cases.

Abstract

• Meperidine was administered intravenously by continuous drip in a series of surgical patients as an adjunct to anesthesia with thiopental sodium, nitrous oxide, and oxygen. The results were compared with those from a group anesthetized with thiopental sodium, nitrous oxide, and oxygen but without the meperidine. The meperidine was found to reduce by 51% the amount of thiopental sodium required per hour. The continuous drip method is reported to give a smoother anesthesia, with less danger of severe respiratory depression and hypotension, than is obtained by single injections of meperidine.