Butabarbital Dosage

Usual Adult Dose for Sedation

Daytime sedation: 15 to 30 mg orally 3 to 4 times daily.

Preoperative sedation: 50 to 100 mg orally 60 to 90 minutes prior to surgery.

Usual Adult Dose for Insomnia

50 to 100 mg orally once at bedtime

Usual Pediatric Dose for Sedation

Preoperative sedation: 2 to 6 mg/kg orally, up to a maximum of 100 mg.

Renal Dose Adjustments

No specific dose adjustment guidelines have been suggested; however, caution and a dose reduction are recommended in patients with renal dysfunction.

Liver Dose Adjustments

No specific dose adjustment guidelines have been suggested; however, caution and a dose reduction are recommended in patients with liver dysfunction.

Dose Adjustments

Butabarbital should be used at the lowest effective dose in order to achieve therapeutic efficacy and minimize adverse effects, particularly in elderly patients.

Although no specific dose adjustment guidelines have been suggested, a dose reduction is recommended for elderly and debilitated patients.

Precautions

Use of butabarbital is contraindicated in patients with porphyria and in patients with a hypersensitivity to barbiturates.

Butabarbital should be administered with caution in patients with a history of substance abuse, depression, or suicidal ideation. In addition, butabarbital should be used with caution in patients with borderline hypoadrenal function, regardless of origin.

Butabarbital should not be administered to patients with premonitory signs of hepatic coma.

In patients receiving prolonged therapy, periodic monitoring of the hematopoietic system and renal and liver function is recommended.

Dialysis

Data not available

Other Comments

For the treatment of insomnia, barbiturates appear to lose their efficacy for sleep induction and maintenance after 14 days; therefore, treatment should be limited to this time period.