• Peter Bosanac, Yitzchak Hollander, and David Castle.
• Director, Clinical Services, St Vincent's Mental Health Service, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
• Australas Psychiatry. 2013 Dec 1; 21 (6): 554-62.

ObjectiveTo review the current role and comparative efficacy of short-acting intramuscular (IM) antipsychotics in the management of acute agitation, in current clinical practice.MethodThe efficacy and tolerability of IM antipsychotics in the management of acute agitation in current clinical practice were reviewed in the Medline, PubMed, Cinahl Plus, Scopus-v.4 and PsycInfo databases.ResultsThe comparative efficacy of the rapidly-acting IM atypical antipsychotics (olanzapine, ziprasidone and aripiprazole) is similar to that of the typical antipsychotic, haloperidol. IM olanzapine and ziprasidone were associated with fewer extrapyramidal side-effects and had similar cardiac tolerability to IM haloperidol.ConclusionsFurther studies are required in the ongoing development of contemporary, evidence-based clinical guidelines in acute agitation, including head-to-head comparisons of currently utilized IM atypical antipsychotics, sequential treatment or combinations of medications.

15 keywords...

hide…