THE EFFECT OF BARBITURATES IN PATIENTS WITH LIVER DISEASE 1

Abstract
Patients with liver diseases showed no increased sensitivity to single injections of pentobarbital and removal of the drug from the blood was not delayed. Prolonged giving of pentobarbital to patients with decompensated liver disease did not retard recovery in 12 of 13 trials. The use of sedatives in patients verging on hepatic coma is not recommended, but the dangers of barbiturates in patients with liver disease appear to have been overemphasized.