Lytic cocktail

In medical parlance, a lytic cocktail is a strongly sedating mixture of different drugs used in anesthesia and pediatrics .

Composition and dosage come from empirical medicine and therefore change from clinic to clinic. It usually contains an opioid pain reliever , a sympatholytic and an antipsychotic or a centrally acting antihistamine , sometimes also an antipyretic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug . To induce anesthesia and in acute situations, the mixture is administered intravenously, otherwise orally in the form of drops.

The background is a synergistic effect of the different substances on the central nervous system with simultaneous calming, pain relief, anxiolysis (anxiety reduction) and reduction of the vegetative arousal . The cocktail is given, for example, in the event of an uncontrollable fever and unsuccessful antipyretic therapy. In obstetrics it is used to open the cervix . High doses can induce hibernation (artificial hibernation). In the case of chronic pain, attempts can be made to reduce the dose and side effects of pure opioid medication.

literature

• J. Meunier-Cartal et al: Morphine and the "lytic cocktail" for terminally ill patients in a French general hospital: evidence for an inverse relationship. In: J Pain Symptom Manage. 10 (4), May 1995, pp. 267-273. PMID 7541434
• BR Parks, SR Snodgrass: Reappraisal of lytic cocktail / demerol, phenergan, and thorazine (DPT) for the sedation of children. In: Pediatrics. 97 (5), May 1996, pp. 779-780.

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