When haloperidol and midazolam were compared with olanzapine , there was some evidence the combination was superior in terms of improvement , sedation and behaviour .
There were relatively little good data and most trials are too small to highlight differences in either positive or negative effects .
Adding a benzodiazepine to other drugs does not seem to confer clear advantage and has potential for adding unnecessary adverse effects .
Sole use of older antipsychotics unaccompanied by anticholinergic drugs seems difficult to justify .
BACKGROUND Acute psychotic illness , especially when associated with agitated or violent behaviour , can require urgent pharmacological tranquillisation or sedation .
In several countries , clinicians often use benzodiazepines ( either alone or in combination with antipsychotics ) for this outcome .
OBJECTIVES To estimate the effects of benzodiazepines , alone or in combination with antipsychotics , when compared with placebo or antipsychotics , alone or in combination with antihistamines , to control disturbed behaviour and reduce psychotic symptoms .
Efficacy of combinations of intramuscular antipsychotics and sedative-hypnotics for control of psychotic agitation.
The combination of haloperidol , 5 mg , and lorazepam , 4 mg , was both effective and safe for managing agitated behavior in an open trial with acutely psychotic patients . The combination also appeared to be superior to its individual components when studied in a r and omized , nonblind trial . The principle of the combined use of antipsychotics and sedative-hypnotics was further tested by comparing two new combinations : thiothixene , 5 mg , and lorazepam , 4 mg , versus haloperidol , 5 mg , and phenobarbital sodium , 130 mg . These combinations had comparable efficacy and safety , and the level of transquilization approached that produced by the haloperidol-lorazepam combination in the preceding studies
When haloperidol and midazolam were compared with olanzapine , there was some evidence the combination was superior in terms of improvement , sedation and behaviour .
There were relatively little good data and most trials are too small to highlight differences in either positive or negative effects .
Adding a benzodiazepine to other drugs does not seem to confer clear advantage and has potential for adding unnecessary adverse effects .
Sole use of older antipsychotics unaccompanied by anticholinergic drugs seems difficult to justify .
BACKGROUND Acute psychotic illness , especially when associated with agitated or violent behaviour , can require urgent pharmacological tranquillisation or sedation .
In several countries , clinicians often use benzodiazepines ( either alone or in combination with antipsychotics ) for this outcome .
OBJECTIVES To estimate the effects of benzodiazepines , alone or in combination with antipsychotics , when compared with placebo or antipsychotics , alone or in combination with antihistamines , to control disturbed behaviour and reduce psychotic symptoms .