Analgesic agent for newborn or fetal subjects
In a first aspect, the present invention relates to the use of xenon in the preparation of a medicament for providing analgesia in a newborn subject and/or a fetal subject. In a second aspect, the invention relates to a method of providing analgesia in a newborn subject, the method comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of xenon. In a third aspect, the invention relates to a method of providing analgesia in a fetal subject, the method comprising administering to the mother of the fetal subject a therapeutically effective amount of xenon for both the mother and fetal subject.
1. A method of providing analgesia in a human newborn subject, the method comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of an analgesic to a human newborn subject experiencing pain or stress sufficient to necessitate administration of the analgesic, wherein the analgesic is xenon.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the newborn subject is a mammal in the first four weeks after birth.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the xenon is administered in combination with a sedative, an anaesthetic agent or a further analgesic agent.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the medicament is in gaseous form.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the medicament is in liquid form.
6. A method accordingly to claim 1 wherein the xenon is administered in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent or excipient.
7. A method according to claim 1 wherein the xenon is administered in the form of a 20 to 70% v/v xenon/air mixture.
8. A method according to claim 1 wherein the xenon is administered in the form of a lipid emulsion.
9. A method according to claim 1 wherein the xenon is administered intraveneously, neuraxially or transversally.
10. A method of providing analgesia in a human fetal subject, the method comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of an analgesic to a mother of a human fetal subject, the fetal subject experiencing pain or stress sufficient to necessitate administration of the analgesic, wherein the analgesic is xenon.
11. A method accordingly to claim 1 wherein the xenon is administered in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent or excipient.
12. A method according to claim 10 wherein the xenon is administered in the form of a 20 to 70% o v/v xenon/air mixture.
13. A method according to claim 10 wherein the xenon is administered in the form of a lipid emulsion.
14. A method according to claim 10 wherein the xenon is administered intraveneously, neuraxially or transdermally.
15. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the xenon is administered to the mother prior to labor.
16. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the xenon is administered to the mother during labor.
17. The method of claim 3 , wherein the further analgesic agent is an alpha-2-adrenergic agonist, an opiate, or a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.
18. The method of claim 3 , wherein the sedative or anaesthetic agent promotes GABAergic activity.