How to Manage an Agitated Patient?

Highlights

• Antipsychotics are the mainstay of treatment; addressing psychotic agitation as well as treating delirium. Haloperidol is best combined with a benzodiazepine, showing both high efficacy and low side effect profile.
• There are currently no FDA-approved oral regimens for agitation. However, there are orally disintegrating formulations of olanzapine, aripiprazole and risperidone. Asenapine is available in a sublingual formulation which requires more patient cooperation.
• Benzodiazepines have anxiolytic and sedating effects but can produce behavioral disinhibition and cognitive impairment in patients with dementia.

Transcript

Hello everyone and welcome to the Psychopharmacology Institute podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Wegdan Rashad. In this series we will be discussing topics that matter to you in your clinical practice, sharing expert opinions and the latest research. So, in our practice we may come across a