Phenobarbital and primidone are used in the treatment of seizuresĪmobarbital is used as an investigative agent in the Wada test (neurological assessment of cerebral hemispheres)īutalbital, in combination with other medications, is used for headaches and muscle painĬopyright © 2023, StatPearls Publishing LLC.ĭrugs and Lactation Database (LactMed®) National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Bethesda (MD): 2023. Methohexital and thiopental are used as anesthetics

Common barbiturates include the following: Restrictions on access to barbiturates have caused the number of overdoses to decline. Barbiturates are used as a laboratory buffer and can be found in clinical and research laboratories.īarbiturates are controlled substances that pose a high risk for abuse, given their psychoactive effects. Their use in clinical practice has largely been replaced by benzodiazepines such as alprazolam, diazepam, and lorazepam due to the lower risk of overdose and available antidote to reverse toxicity. Some states administer barbiturates for physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia and use them for capital punishment by lethal injection. They are commonly used as antiepileptics (phenobarbital) and for the induction of general anesthesia (thiopental). Barbiturates are a class of sedative-hypnotic drugs.

Lorazepam overdose antidote