- Title
- Droperidol V. haloperidol for sedation of aggressive behaviour in acute mental health: randomised controlled trial
- Creator
- Calver, Leonie; Drinkwater, Vincent; Gupta, Rahul; Page, Colin B.; Isbister, Geoffrey K.
- Relation
- NHMRC.1061041
- Relation
- British Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 206, Issue 3, p. 223-228
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.114.150227
- Publisher
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2015
- Description
- Background: Agitation and aggression are significant problems in acute psychiatric units. There is little consensus on which drug is most effective and safest for sedation of these patients. Aims: To compare the effectiveness and safety of haloperidol v. droperidol for patients with agitation and aggression. Method: In a masked, randomised controlled trial (ACTRN12611000565943) intramuscular droperidol (10 mg) was compared with intramuscular haloperidol (10 mg) for adult patients with acute behavioural disturbance in a psychiatric intensive care unit. The primary outcome was time to sedation within 120 min. Secondary outcomes were use of additional sedation, adverse events and staff injuries. Results: From 584 patients, 110 were randomised to haloperidol and 118 to droperidol. Effective sedation occurred in 210 (92%) patients within 120 min. There was no significant difference in median time to sedation: 20 min (interquartile range 15–30, range 10–75) for haloperidol v. 25 min (IQR 15–30, range 10–115) for droperidol (P = 0.89). Additional sedation was used more often with haloperidol (13% v. 5%, P = 0.06), but adverse effects were less common with haloperidol (1% v. 5%, P = 0.12). There were 8 staff injuries. Conclusions: Both haloperidol and droperidol were effective for sedation of patients with acute behavioural disturbance.
- Subject
- droperidol; haloperidol; sedation; agressive behaviour; randomised controlled trial
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1332793
- Identifier
- uon:26936
- Identifier
- ISSN:0007-1250
- Language
- eng
- Reviewed
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