OBSERVATIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF DIHYDROMORPHINONE-HYDROCHLORIDE (DILAUDID) ON INTESTINAL ACTIVITY OF UNANESTHETIZED DOGS

¹ From the Department of Pharmacology, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Memphis

1. Unanesthetized dogs with intestines practically in situ were employed in a study of the action of dilaudid and morphine on intestinal movement. A balloon recording system was used.

2. Our records agree with the statements of others concerning the actions of dilaudid on the intestine, namely that it increases tone, increases the amplitude and slows the rate of the segmental movements, and may increase the frequency and force of peristaltic movements. In these respects we agree that in equivalent weights it is roughly ten times as effective as morphine.

3. Repeated doses of dilaudid generally continue or increase its effect.

4. The depression of tone or movement seen occasionally with dilaudid or morphine tends to be transient, both tone and movements returning promptly, although in some instances tone may be depressed continuously by massive doses.

5. Different segments of the intestine temporarily may respond oppositely to the same injection.

6. Dilaudid and morphine tend to augment the type of movement already present in a given segment without producing qualitative changes.

7. Considering the suggested clinical ratio (1 mgm. dilaudid equivalent to 5 mgm. of morphine), tonus increases produced by clinical doses of morphine and dilaudid are qualitatively the same but massive doses of morphine tend to lower the tonus more than massive doses of dilaudid.