[Various aspects of using minor regulatory peptides in anesthesiology]

Dalargin is a Soviet synthetic analog of leu-enkephalin. It was used in a complex of anesthesiological protection (in the form of permanent infusion at a rate of 40-55 micrograms/kg/h) in 331 patients who suffered different operations on the heart, lungs and abdominal cavity. Potential mechanisms of the protective action of the drug were studied in experimental surgical distress. It was found advisable that dalargin may be included into combined general anesthesia to maintain intraoperative organ protection, to stabilize vital functions of the patient at the most crucial and traumatic stages of intervention, and to decrease requirements of narcotic analgetics. It is assumed that dalargin may interact with peripheral opiate receptors. The interaction is likely to be viewed as the main mechanism by which the protective properties of the drug are realized.