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Rapid tranquilization: new approaches in the emergency treatment of behavioral disturbances

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Jürgen De Fruyt  and
Koen Demyttenaere
Jürgen De Fruyt*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Merestraat 49, 3000Leuven, Belgium Department of Psychiatry, General Hospital Sint-Jan av, AZ Sint-Jan AV, Ruddershove 10, 8000Brugge, Belgium
Koen Demyttenaere
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Merestraat 49, 3000Leuven, Belgium
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address: jurgen.defruyt@azbrugge.be (J. De Fruyt).
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Abstract

Psychiatric emergencies are often accompanied by behavioral disturbances that interfere with normal assessment and call for immediate intervention. Different pharmacological treatment regimens have been used for this purpose. Most of these regimens are based upon common clinical practice and have limited evidence base. Recently, a major publication by experts in the field of emergency psychiatry has covered this topic and the therapeutic armamentarium has been extended with the atypical antipsychotics. However, research is still hampered by different methodological limitations: unclear definition of the agitated state and therapeutic goal, idiosyncratic measurement, small sample sizes. The perspective of the patient and the interaction between the emergency care setting and treatment regimen also need further attention. All these important, but often neglected issues are covered in a selective review of the literature.

Keywords

Emergency psychiatryPsychosisAgitationViolenceRapid tranquilizationSedation
Type
Review
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 19 , Issue 5 , August 2004 , pp. 243 - 249
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 European Psychiatric Association

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