Sedative/hypnotic effects of chloral hydrate in the neonate: trichloroethanol or parent drug?

Although the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of chloral hydrate (CH) have been reported, there have been no attempts to correlate CH or its metabolite, trichloroethanol (TCE) with the sedative or hypnotic effects. In order to determine whether plasma concentrations of CH or TCE reflect the sedative/hypnotic effects, a sedation/agitation scale was developed. Based on the results of the present study, the sedative/hypnotic effects of TCE cannot be ruled out completely. However, in the neonate, the parent drug CH seems to have a more important role than has been previously suggested from human research.