Papaveretum ( BAN) is a preparation containing a mixture of

hydrochloride In chemistry, a hydrochloride is an acid salt resulting, or regarded as resulting, from the reaction of hydrochloric acid with an organic base (e.g. an amine). An alternative name is chlorhydrate, which comes from French. An archaic alternative na ...

salts of

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

s. Since 1993, papaveretum has been defined in the

British Pharmacopoeia The ''British Pharmacopoeia'' (''BP'') is the national pharmacopoeia of the United Kingdom. It is an annually published collection of quality standards for medicinal substances in the UK, which is used by individuals and organisations involve ...

(BP) as a mixture of 253 parts

morphine hydrochloride Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. There ...

, 23 parts papaverine hydrochloride, and 20 parts codeine hydrochloride. It is commonly marketed to medical agencies under the

trade name A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

Omnopon. Although the use of papaveretum is now relatively uncommon following the wide availability of single-component

opiate An opiate, in classical pharmacology, is a substance derived from opium. In more modern usage, the term ''opioid'' is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain (including antagonis ...

s and synthetic

opioid Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid us ...

s (e.g.

pethidine Pethidine, also known as meperidine and sold under the brand name Demerol among others, is a synthetic opioid analgesic, pain medication of the phenylpiperidine class. Synthesized in 1938 as a potential anticholinergic agent by the German chemis ...

), it is still used to relieve moderate to severe pain and for pre-operative sedation. In clinical settings, papaveretum is usually administered to patients via subcutaneous,

intramuscular Intramuscular injection, often abbreviated IM, is the injection of a substance into a muscle. In medicine, it is one of several methods for parenteral administration of medications. Intramuscular injection may be preferred because muscles have l ...

, or

intravenous Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutrie ...

routes. Additionally, the morphine syrettes found in combat medical kits issued to military personnel actually contain Omnopon. Prior to 1993, papaveretum also contained

noscapine Noscapine (also known as Narcotine, Nectodon, Nospen, Anarcotine and (archaic) Opiane) is a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid, of the phthalideisoquinoline structural subgroup, which has been isolated from numerous species of the family Papaveraceae ( ...

, though this component was removed from the BP formulation due to the

genotoxic Genotoxicity is the property of chemical agents that damage the genetic information within a cell causing mutations, which may lead to cancer. While genotoxicity is often confused with Mutagen, mutagenicity, all mutagens are genotoxic, but some geno ...

potential of noscapine.

References

{{Opioidergics Opiates