The Use of Rapid Tranquilization in Aggressive Behavior

Abstract

ggressive behavior can be considered pathological only when it arises in the context of disease. It is thus not necessarily an indication for medical treatment. Not only emergency medical personnel and psychiatrists, but also family physicians are often confronted with the question of how to treat aggressive behavior. In one study, psychiatric emergencies accounted for 11.8% of all emergency medical interventions outside the hospital. Psychomotor agitation made up 28% of all psychiatric emergencies, second only to alcohol intoxication (33%) (1). Psychomotor agitation in the context of mental illness and intoxication constitutes a medical emergency. Affected patients can injure themselves or others. In a retrospective survey of six German psychiatric hospitals, 1.7 to 5 aggressive attacks per patient-year were reported (2). In one hospital in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, 171 of the 2210 patients admitted within a 1-year period were involved in aggressive attacks, and a total of 441 episodes of aggressive behavior were reported (3). Psychomotor agitation carries the risk of somatic complications, including electrolyte disturbances, rhabdomyolysis, and lactic acidosis (4, 5). The goal of pharmacotherapy is to calm the patient. Amnesia and deep sedation should be avoided in order not to compromise the patient's ability to participate in joint decision-making about further treatment. Deep sedation also puts patients at risk of cardiorespiratory depression, aspiration, and other complications. No data on this topic are available from Germany, but an Australian study has shown that 16 agitated patients who were pharmacologically sedated (9% of the patients so treated) sustained complications such as hypotension and hypoxemia (6). The health-related causes of aggressive behavior include nearly all kinds of mental disorders, and various somatic illnesses as well. In an emergency, the history should be rapidly obtained from someone who has observed the behavior, and an initial, orienting physical examination should be performed. Intoxications, withdrawal syndromes, a postictal state, and rapidly reversible causes such as hypoglycemia should be ruled out (7). The patient's permission for pharmacotherapy should be obtained whenever possible. In Germany, when the patient refuses treatment, the physician must determine whether coercive emergency treatment is permissible and required, as per the concept of a Summary Background: Psychomotor agitation and aggressiveness in the context of mental illness are medical emergencies. In a survey of six German psychiatric hospitals, 1.7 to 5 aggressive attacks per patient-year were reported. If talking to the patient has no calming effect, intervention with drugs is required. In this article, we review the evidence on tranquilizing drugs and discuss clinically relevant ethical and practical questions, e.g., with respect to involuntary medication. Method: This review is based on pertinent articles retrieved by a selective search in MEDLINE, supplemented by a reference sear...

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