ClassIndications
- Short-term management of severe anxiety
- Short-term treatment of insomnia
- Convulsive status epilepticus
- Treatment and prevention of alcohol withdrawal syndrome
- Sedation induction and anterograde amnesia
- Impaired liver function is not a hazard with lorazepam
- Does not require oxidation, hepatic or otherwise, for its metabolism
Administration/AbsorptionDosage
Distribution- Readily absorbed with an absolute bioavailability of 90%
- 85% protein bound
Mechanism- Binds to an allosteric site on GABA-A receptors, which are
pentameric ionotropic receptors in the CNS
- Binding potentiates the
effects of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA
- Opens the chloride channel in the receptor, allowing chloride influx and
causing hyperpolerization of the neuron
Excretion- Lorazepam is rapidly conjugated at its 3-hydroxy group into lorazepam glucuronide which is then excreted in the urine
- Half-life 12 hours
Side effects- Any of the five intrinsic benzodiazepine effects possessed by benzodiazepines
- Sedative/hypnotic, muscle relaxant, anxiolytic, amnesic, and
anticonvulsant
- Paradoxical effects
- Suicidality
- Withdrawal effects
Interactions
Contraindications
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