The Treatment of Acute Anxiety States in Neurotic Patients with Intravenous Lorazepam. A Placebo-Controlled Study

Abstract

In a double-blind trial, 20 neurotic patients with acute anxiety were treated with 3 mg. lorazepam intravenously and 17 others were treated with placebo. A total of 24 injections of lorazepam and 26 of placebo were given. Only 4 patients on lorazepam needed a second injection 1 hour later compared with 9 patients on placebo (p< 0.05). Sixty minutes after the injections of lorazepam, patients were free of anxiety symptoms on 70.8% occasions, compared with only 7.7% occasions following placebo (p<0.01). The effects of lorazepam on anxiety were discernible 10 minutes after the injections. Considering the number of patients, not injections, 85.0%, were free of symptoms after treatment with lorazepam and only 11.8% after treatment with placebo (p<0.01). Blood pressure, pulse rate and respiratory rate were favourably influenced by the drug and not by placebo; these effects were discernible 10 minutes after the injection.