Abstract
Background
Understanding more about the efficacy and safety of oral second-generation antipsychotic
medications in reducing the symptoms of acute agitation could improve the treatment
of psychiatric emergencies.
Objective
The objective of this scoping review was to examine the evidence base underlying expert
consensus panel recommendations for the use of oral second-generation antipsychotics
to treat acute agitation in mentally ill patients.
Methods
The Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Study-Based Register was searched for randomized
controlled trials comparing oral second-generation antipsychotics, benzodiazepines,
or first-generation antipsychotics with or without adjunctive benzodiazepines, irrespective
of route of administration of the drug being compared. Six articles were included
in the final review.
Results
Two oral second-generation antipsychotic medications were studied across the six included
trials. While the studies had relatively small sample sizes, oral second-generation
antipsychotics were similarly effective to intramuscular first-generation antipsychotics
in treating symptoms of acute agitation and had similar side-effect profiles.
Conclusions
This scoping review identified six randomized trials investigating the use of oral
second-generation antipsychotic medications in the reduction of acute agitation among
patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies. Further research will be necessary
to make clinical recommendations due to the overall dearth of randomized trials, as
well as the small sample sizes of the included studies.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 21, 2017
Accepted:
April 25,
2017
Received in revised form:
April 4,
2017
Received:
November 26,
2016
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
