Evaluation of flurazepam and placebo on sleep disorders in childhood

Abstract

The clinically observed results in 40 patients, from 1 to 15 years old, presenting sleep disturbances, in a comparative and statistically approached study of flurazepam 15mg daily against placebo, are reported. Placebo was administered, followed by the drug, during 14 days each. The chief complaints were sleepwalking, sleep-talking, sleep terror, sleep-related bruxism, sleep-related headbanging, insomnia and excessive movements during sleep. A significant effect of flurazepam on sleepwalking, sleep-talking, bruxism, sleep terror and excessive movement during sleep, was observed. The insomniac headbanging patients were not enough for statistical analysis. Flurazepam side effects were excessive drowsiness during daytime in 3 cases; irritability, 3 cases; nausea and vomiting, 2 cases, and were not correlated with age. Placebo side effects were similar, except for nausea and vomiting which were not observed. It was necessary to discontinue flurazepam in 2 cases, because of excessive drowsiness during daytime, which did not improve when reducing the dose.

l -5-Hydroxytryptophan treatment of sleep terrors in children

“…In the same study, sleep terrors stopped by the age of 8 years in 50% of cases; 36% continued into adolescence. Different therapeutic strategies have been proposed for sleep terrors: a behavioural approach, reinforcing age-appropriate sleep patterns, reassuring and guiding parents [32]; an approach based on psychotherapy or hypnosis [10,19]; waking treatment [20]; and a pharmacological approach using different classes of medication such as benzodiazepines and tricyclic antidepressants [3,5,6,23,25]. However, drugs are only rarely used in clinical practice.…”

A systematic review of treatments for sleepwalking: 100 years of case studies

“…SW = sleepwalking; ns = not specified; na = paper not accessible; study (B = no treatment; A & C = active treatment or placebo) of five adults found no significant difference between diazepam and placebo medication (Reid, Haffke, & Chu, 1984). An AB (A = placebo, B = active treatment) case design with 24 children showed a significant reduction in sleepwalking from flurazepam compared with placebo (Reimão & Lefévre, 1982). Tables 1 and 2 provide a summary of case and case series reports of treatments with children (Table 1) and adults (Table 2).…”

Evaluation of muscle activity, bite force and salivary cortisol in children with bruxism before and after low level laser applied to acupoints: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

“…However, the risk of dependency limits its use for prolonged periods. Moreover, such therapies are not indicated for children due to the side effects [45]. We expect treatment with acupoints to improve the anxiety of these children and cause a decrease of cortisol levels.…”