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Managing the Acutely Agitated and Psychotic Patient

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Kimberly Nordstrom  and
Michael H. Allen
Kimberly Nordstrom*
Affiliation:
Dr. Nordstrom is a psychiatrist and lawyer who works as a general adult and forensic psychiatrist in Steamboat Springs, Colorado
*
Kimberly Nordstrom, MD, JD, PO Box 770433, Steamboat Springs, Colorado 80477; Tel: 970-879-2141; Fax: 970-879-8825; E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Agitation can present as an emergency in the course of numerous psychiatric conditions including intoxication, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and delirium. This article reviews relevant literature regarding the definition, etiology, measurement, and management of episodic agitation and pays particular attention to intramuscular treatments. The impact of changes in methodology between the era of first- and second-generation antipsychotics, the implications of those changes for external validity of studies of second-generation studies, and the recent evolution of expert consensus are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 12 , Issue S17 , 2007 , pp. 5 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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