Papaveretum

Overview
Papaveretum (BAN) is a preparation containing a mixture of hydrochloride salts of opium alkaloids. Since 1993, papaveretum has been defined in the British Pharmacopoeia (BP) as a mixture of 253 parts morphine hydrochloride, 23 parts papaverine hydrochloride, and 20 parts codeine hydrochloride (Sweetman, 2004). It is commonly marketed under the trade name Omnopon&reg;.

Although relatively uncommon, with the wide availability of single-component opiates and synthetic opioids, papaveretum is still used for moderate to severe pain and for pre-operative sedation. In the clinical setting, papaveretum is usually given by the subcutaneous, intramuscular or intravenous routes.

Prior to 1993, the preparation also contained noscapine, however this was removed from the BP formulation due to the genotoxic potential of noscapine.