title: Pharmacokinetics of thiopental in caesarian section.
abstract: Anaesthesia for planned caesarian section in nine women was induced with an i.v. thiopental injection. The injection was stopped when the ciliary reflex disappeared. 250-300 mg was given over 60-85 seconds. The concentration of thiopental in peripheral venous blood 20 s after the disappearance of the ciliary reflex varied from 4.3 to 33.7 micrograms/ml. The simultaneously obtained concentrations at delivery (11-25 min after the start of the induction) were 1.7-6.0 micrograms/ml in venous blood from the mothers and 1.3-5.5 micrograms/ml in cord vein blood. In two of the newborns, the Apgar scores were 8 and 9, in the other seven it was 10. The baby with Apgar score 8 was delivered after 25 min and had a concentration in cord vein blood of 3.5 micrograms/ml. The decline in the concentration of thiopental in the venous blood of the mothers was described by a three-compartment open model. The terminal half-life was relatively short, between 91 and 595 min. The blood levels of thiopental in the newborns were followed for 22-33 h. The terminal half-lives in the babies ranged from 616 to 2560 min.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000758:Anesthesia; D001034:Apgar Score; D002585:Cesarean Section; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007700:Kinetics; D011247:Pregnancy; D012025:Reflex, Pupillary / Q000187:drug effects; D013874:Thiopental / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D013874:Thiopental