Flumazenil antidote
Flumazenil is used to help you wake up after a surgery or medical procedure in which a benzodiazepine was used as a sedative. Its use, however, is controversial as it has numerous contraindications. FLUMAZENIL CLASS: Antidote INDICATIONS: Benzodiazepine antagonist reverses sedative effects of benzodiazepines used in conscious sedation and general anesthesia treatment of benzodiazepine overdose AVAILABLE DOSAGE FROM THE HOSPITAL: FLUMAZENIL 0. An interprofessional team approach would help achieve maximum efficacy and minimize potential risks associated with flumazenil therapy. Flumazenil is used to reverse the effects of a benzodiazepine (BENZ-oh-dye-AYZ-e-peen) sedative such as Valium, Versed, Xanax, Tranxene, and others. Flumazenil (Romazicon) is a competitive benzodiazepine receptor antagonist that can be used as an antidote for benzodiazepine overdose. As depicted above, clinicians(MDs, DOs, NPs, PAs) should collaborate to improve patient outcomes. Academic Emergency Medicine 1997 4: 935-6. In addition, medical toxicologist consultation is often required for multiple-drug ingestions. Flumazenil: A Pharmacologic Antidote with Limited Medical Toxicology Utility, or An Antidote in Search of an Overdose. Critical care physician consultation is required in severe poisoning with respiratory depression. Hospital pharmacists should ensure proper dosing of flumazenil. Flumazenil is a competitive benzodiazepine antagonist with a limited role in the management of benzodiazepine poisoning. Emergency department physicians should rapidly stabilize the patient. Normally flumazenil overdose is handled by emergency department physicians. Overall, the use of flumazenil to manage benzodiazepine overdose is diminishing as the drug may cause more harm than good. A few patients may develop rhabdomyolysis and aspiration pneumonia. In most isolated cases of benzodiazepine overdose, supportive management may prove useful. The problem arises when the individual has co-ingested alcohol or other illicit drugs. In general, patients who overdose on benzodiazepines alone rarely have significant mortality. The nurse and the pharmacist should educate the patient on the use of benzodiazepines, their potential to cause addiction, and physical dependence. The ideal circumstance for flumazenil is when a naive benzodiazepine individual has overdosed. Additionally, all healthcare workers need to know that this drug should not be used in patients with a history of seizures, head injury, or those who have ingested a tricyclic antidepressant. The drug may precipitate seizures and withdrawal in patients who have been using benzodiazepines for a medical disorder. Not everyone with benzodiazepine overdose will respond to it.
The problem with flumazenil is that its effects are not consistent or predictable. Despite the initial hype about the drug, many experts believe that its risks may outweigh its benefits. This competitive antagonist of benzodiazepines can rapidly reverse benzodiazepine overdose. Today, with the epidemic of drug overdoses, nurses, pharmacists, and physicians need to be aware of flumazenil.