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Glite Dictionary
thiopental sodium

thiopental sodium

6.5
A strong medicine given into a vein to make a person sleep for surgery
  • noun
  • /θaɪəˈpɛntəl ˈsoʊdiəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : tiopental sódico
  • The doctor administered thiopental sodium before the surgery.

Examples

  • Thiopental sodium is commonly used by anesthesiologists to induce anesthesia before surgery.

  • Before the surgery, the patient was given thiopental sodium to induce anesthesia.

  • Doctors discontinued the use of thiopental sodium for executions in several states.

  • The rapid onset of thiopental sodium makes it useful for short medical procedures.

  • Many anesthesiologists prefer thiopental sodium for rapid induction.

  • The hospital decided to administer thiopental sodium intravenously for a quick onset of anesthesia during the procedure.

  • Due to its fast-acting properties, thiopental sodium is often the first drug given in general anesthesia regimens.

Synonyms

Pentothal
vsthiopental sodium
  • Archaic
9 8.7

A fast-acting drug that makes a person unconscious for surgery

is the generic drug name used clinically for rapid intravenous induction
thiopental
vsthiopental sodium
  • Specialized
2 9.9

A fast medicine given into a vein to make a person sleep before surgery

is the specific salt form used for rapid intravenous induction
thiopentobarbital sodium
vsthiopental sodium
  • Specialized
9.6

A fast-acting drug that makes people or animals unconscious for surgery

is used as an injectable solution for rapid induction rather than as powder

Surface Forms

thiopental sodium singular
thiopentals sodium plural

Morphology

thiopental + sodium

The compound simply names the sodium salt/form of the drug 'thiopental' (a barbiturate) so a learner who knows 'thiopental' as an anesthetic agent and 'sodium' as the element can infer this refers to the sodium formulation used clinically. This follows a regular pharmaceutical naming pattern (X sodium) that is compositional and cross-linguistically common, making the meaning predictable for B1 learners who know both constituents.

Etymology

Thiopental sodium: The name comes from its chemical parts: thio may mean sulfur and pent means five, words used to describe the drug's chemical make-up. Because it works very fast and puts people 'unconscious', doctors used it as a quick 'anesthetic'.