Intravenous Antipsychotic Administration

by **edgnbd** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:09 pm

I've read that in an emergency situation they sometimes administer the antipsychotic intravenously. This would be in a hospital emergency room.

Has anyone ever heard of any other circumstances where they administer the antipsychotic intravenously? Also, are any antipsychotics approved for intravenous administration?

IV antipsychotics are another realistic alternative for treating acutely agitated patients because of rapid onset of action. Although it takes 30 to 60 minutes to see a full effect, IV antipsychotics are generally safe.

The bad news is that the patient who I would like to start on IV antipsychotics in the emergency room is at the same time not someone on whom I would like to try to start an IV. In addition, the literature shows a variety of cardiac arrhythmias associated with rapidly administered IV antipsychotics. For these reasons, I use IV antipsychotics only for patients in the medical intensive care unit who already have IV lines started, are on cardiac monitors, and are in an environment that has no tolerance for aberrant behavior.

If someone is presenting in the ER with psychotic symptoms, most likely they would not tolerate an IV. It would probably be better and quicker to just use an IM (intramuscular) injection which is what you typically see. I would say that it is possible to use IV antipsychotics, but it is probably not something that you would see very often.

Intravenous Antipsychotic Administration

Intravenous Antipsychotic Administration

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