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The history of barbiturates a century after their clinical introduction

The barbiturates introduced clinically one century ago were the first pharmacological agents to have demonstrated – in an historical period that was therapeutically inhospitable – a real efficacy in different neuropsychiatric disorders. They were the first-line treatment as hypnotics and anticonvulsants during the first half of the 20th century. The clinical results obtained in the last years in other indications such as the treatment (acute or prophylactic) of traumatic brain injury, although contradictory, seems to confirm that, from the pharmacological perspective, the barbiturates continue furnishing certain novelties and that in their history the last page has not yet been written.

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Resources

StatPearls

Barbiturates have historically been a widely prescribed class of drugs both in and out of the hospital. Benzodiazepines have largely replaced them when used for anti-anxiety or insomnia. IV anesthetic uses of barbiturates are minimal...