Pentobarbital is a short-acting barbiturate now used for preoperative anxiety and to produce sedative effects.

• A. Hypnotic sleep
• B. Sedative effects
• C. Anxiolytic effect
• D. Pain relief

Answer: (B)

Pentobarbital is used in the preoperative setting to calm and steady a patient before procedure, producing a sedative effect. This means it lowers agitation and anxiety and brings about a calm, relaxed state without necessarily inducing full sleep. While higher doses can lead to sleep (hypnosis) and barbiturates can have some anxiety-reducing properties, the intended clinical action described here is sedation—calming without requiring the patient to actually fall asleep. It does not provide pain relief, and while it may lessen anxiety, the most fitting description of its primary use in this context is the sedative effect.