Dezocine, sold under the brand name Dalgan, is an atypical opioid analgesic which is used in the treatment of pain.

[3][4] The drug has a similar profile of effects to related opioids acting at the μ-opioid receptor, including analgesia and euphoria.

[2][5] Unlike other opioids acting at the κ-opioid receptor however, dezocine does not produce side effects such as dysphoria or hallucinations at any therapeutically used dose.

[2] Dezocine is generally administered intravenously (as Dalgan) to relieve post-operative pain in patients.

Dezocine has potent analgesic effects, and comparable or greater pain-relieving ability than morphine, codeine, and pethidine (meperidine).

It can be prescribed, therefore, in small doses over an extended period of time without causing patients to develop and sustain an addiction.

Its efficacy as an analgesic is dose-dependent; however, it displays a ceiling effect in induced respiratory depression at 0.3 to 0.4 mg/kg.

[14] Moreover, dezocine is not a controlled substance and there are no reports of addiction related to its use, indicating that, unlike virtually all other clinically employed μ-opioid receptor agonists (including weak partial agonists like buprenorphine), and for reasons that are not fully clear, it is apparently non-addictive.

[2][additional citation(s) needed] Dezocine [(−)-13β-amino-5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12-octahydro-5α-methyl-5,11-methanobenzocyclodecen-31-ol, hydrobromide] is a pale white crystal powder.

A reduction reaction in hydrogen gas produces an isomeric mixture, from which the final product is crystallized and cleaved with HBr.

[2][24] Dezocine is the generic name of the drug and its INNTooltip International Nonproprietary Name and USANTooltip United States Adopted Name.

[31] On the basis of the preceding findings, there is interest in dezocine as a potential antidepressant in the treatment of depression, for instance in people with opioid use disorder.