Hydromorphone

Hydromorphone, a more common synonym for dihydromorphinone, commonly a hydrochloride (brand names Palladone, Dilaudid, and numerous others) is a very potent centrally acting analgesic drug of the opioid class. It is a derivative of morphine, to be specific, a hydrogenated ketone thereof, and it can be said that hydromorphone is to morphine as hydrocodone is to codeine and, therefore, a semi-synthetic drug. It is, in medical terms, an opioid analgesic and, in legal terms, a narcotic. Hydromorphone is commonly used in the hospital setting, mostly intravenously (IV) because its bioavailability orally, rectally, and intranasally is very low.

Very small quantities of hydromorphone are detected in assays of opium on rare occasions; it appears to be produced by the plant under circumstances and by processes which are not understood at this time and may include the action of bacteria. A similar process and/or other metabolic processes in the plant may very well be responsible for the very low quantities of hydrocodone also found on rare occasions in opium and alkaloid mixtures derived therefrom; dihydrocodeine, oxymorphol, oxycodone, oxymorphone, metopon and possibly other derivatives of morphine and/or hydromorphone also are found in trace amounts in opium.

Indications

Hydromorphone is used to relieve moderate to severe pain and severe, painful dry coughing. Hydromorphone is becoming more popular in the treatment of chronic pain in many countries, including the United States.