Lorazepam and diazepam as adjuncts to epidural anaesthesia for caesarean section

Abstract

Lorazepam 0.05 mg-kg -1 and diazepam 0.1 mg-kg -t administered intravenously were compared as sedatives for 42 patients undergoing Caesarean Section under epidural anaesthesia. After receivin~ the drug, 15 per cent of the diazepam patients and 32 per cent of the lorazepam patients were still agitated. Ten per cent of the diazepam patients and 36 per cent of the lorazepam patients had severe symptoms of delirium. These included hallucinations, confusion, agitation, restlcssness, inappropriate weeping and repetitive hand movements.Memory impairment was greater with lorazepam. Thirty-five per cent of the diazepam patients had pain at the injection site. None of the lorazepam patients had such pain. Respiratory rate, heart rate and mean blood pressure did not change significantly in either group. Half the patients who had been given lorazepam had side effects that were bothersome enough to cause them to complain the following day. Lorazepam and diazepam were both unsatisfactory as sedatives for patients having Caesarean Section.

The Birth Memories and Recall Questionnaire (BirthMARQ): development and evaluation

“…Fourthly, childbirth often involves the use of analgesia. The effect of analgesia on birth memories is unclear but some studies have shown it can cause varying degrees of amnesia [43-45] and Briddon et al . [7] suggest that analgesia with greater consciousness-affecting (rather than pain-affecting) properties may be associated with more disorganised memories of birth.…”

Pre‐operative psychosis following oral lorazepam

“…Further, Ong et al . reported delirium, hallucination, confusion and agitation following intravenous administration of lorazepam (0.05 mg.kg −1 ), in patients undergoing Caesarean section under epidural anaesthesia [2]. However, in the present case, the patient was elderly and received oral lorazepam that caused an adverse event that led to the postponement of surgery.…”