THE USE OF DEMEROL IN ARTIFICIAL FEVER
THOS. J. HELDT M. D.1,
NICHOLAS P. DALLIS M. D.1, , and
WILLIAM J. O'CONNELL M. D.1
1 The Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
The use of demerol hydrochloride in 22 cases receiving artificial fever therapy in the Kettering hypertherm is reported. This represented a total of 165 treatments. The youngest patient was seventeen years and the oldest was sixty-five years of age.
Treatments were usually given at weekly intervals with the temperature maintained between 105 and 107 degrees Fahrenheit for three to five hours.
In 5 cases there was opportunity to compare demerol with the use of other drugs. In all such clinical comparisons demerol was found to be superior from a standpoint of management, safety and comfort of the patient. [See table In Source PDF].
