Hydromorphone (also known as dihydromorphinone and the brand name Dilaudid among others) is a more potent opioid analgesic than morphine and is used for moderate to severe pain. It can be administered by injection, by infusion, by mouth, and rectally. Oral bioavailability is low. The kidney excretes hydromorphone and its metabolites. Some metabolites may have greater analgesic activity than hydromorphone itself but are unlikely to contribute to the pharmacological activity of hydromorphone. With the exception of pruritus, sedation and nausea and vomiting, which may occur less after hydromorphone than after morphine, the side-effects of these drugs are similar. Hydromorphone interacts predominantly with the opioid mu-receptors. These mu-binding sites are discretely distributed in the human brain, with high densities in the posterior amygdala, hypothalamus, thalamus, nucleus caudatus, putamen, and certain cortical areas. It also binds with kappa and delta receptors which are thought to mediate spinal analgesia, miosis and sedation.

Droperidol produces marked tranquilization and sedation. It allays apprehension and provides a state of mental detachment and indifference while maintaining a state of reflex alertness. Droperidol produces an antiemetic effect as evidenced by the antagonism of apomorphine in dogs. It lowers the incidence of nausea and vomiting during surgical procedures and provides antiemetic protection in the postoperative period. Droperidol potentiates other CNS depressants. It produces mild alpha-adrenergic blockade, peripheral vascular dilatation and reduction of the pressor effect of epinephrine. It can produce hypotension and decreased peripheral vascular resistance and may decrease pulmonary arterial pressure (particularly if it is abnormally high). It may reduce the incidence of epinephrine-induced arrhythmias, but it does not prevent other cardiac arrhythmias. The exact mechanism of action is unknown, however, droperidol causes a CNS depression at subcortical levels of the brain, midbrain, and brainstem reticular formation. It may antagonize the actions of glutamic acid within the extrapyramidal system. It may also inhibit cathecolamine receptors and the reuptake of neurotransmiters and has strong central antidopaminergic action and weak central anticholinergic action. It can also produce ganglionic blockade and reduced affective response. The main actions seem to stem from its potent Dopamine (2) receptor antagonism with minor antagonistic effects on alpha-1 adrenergic receptors as well. Droperidol is used to produce tranquilization and to reduce the incidence of nausea and vomiting in surgical and diagnostic procedures.

Fentanyl is a potent agonist of mu opioid receptor. It is used to relieve severe pain, such as after surgery or during cancer treatment, and breakthrough pain (flare-ups of intense pain despite round-the-clock narcotic treatment). Fentanyl is an extremely powerful analgesic, 50–100-times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl harbors massive risk for addiction and abuse regardless of its prescription form. Fentanyl abuse is especially dangerous to those without a tolerance to opioids. The substance’s already elevated risk of overdose is multiplied when someone without a tolerance abuses it.