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VIDEO: Rethinking the purpose of benzodiazepines
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NEW ORLEANS — Benzodiazepines in older patients with delirium may be an acceptable pharmacological approach after all, according to Alan Dow, MD, MSHA, a general internist at Virginia Commonwealth University and member of the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting planning committee.
“Many of us were taught that you can have a paradoxical reaction to benzodiazepines that can lead to problems in the elderly patients that receive them…This is true, but it is extremely rare… If you look at a lot of the trials, the rescue medication for delirium in a patient who doesn’t respond to whatever therapy they’re testing is benzodiazepines,” he said.
Dow also discussed what an internist or primary care physician should consider before referring a patient with treatment-resistant depression onto a mental health professional.
Dow moderated a panel that also provided updates for internists and primary care physicians on pulmonology and substance abuse disorders.
Disclosure: Dow reports no relevant financial disclosures.