levallorphan
Noun: 1. A synthetic opioid antagonist drug: Levallorphan is a pharmaceutical compound chemically related to morphine. Its primary medical use is to reverse or counteract certain dangerous side effects of other opioid drugs, specifically respiratory depression (severely slowed or stopped breathing), without blocking the pain-relieving (analgesic) effects. It is known by the trade name Lorfan.
Levallorphan is used in specific clinical settings to manage opioid overdose or adverse reactions. * The emergency team administered levallorphan to reverse the patient's respiratory depression caused by the morphine overdose. * Levallorphan can be a critical tool for counteracting the life-threatening effects of opioid poisoning while preserving analgesia.
- As an opioid antagonist: This term classifies levallorphan's mechanism of action. It works by binding to opioid receptors in the brain and blocking the effects of other opioid agonists (like morphine or heroin), particularly their depressive effect on the respiratory center.
- Naloxone is a more commonly used opioid antagonist today, but levallorphan was historically significant.
- Lorfan: The brand or trade name for levallorphan.
- The hospital's formulary listed the drug under its generic name, levallorphan, rather than Lorfan.
- Opioid antagonist: A general class of drugs to which levallorphan belongs.
- Narcotic antagonist: An older term for drugs that block the effects of narcotics/opioids.
Note: There are no common idioms or phrasal verbs associated with this specific pharmaceutical term.
- drug (trade name Lorfan) that is related to morphine but that counteracts the respiratory depression produced by morphine poisoning but without affecting its analgesic effects