Efficacy of combinations of intramuscular antipsychotics and sedative-hypnotics for control of psychotic agitation.

The combination of haloperidol, 5 mg, and lorazepam, 4 mg, was both effective and safe for managing agitated behavior in an open trial with acutely psychotic patients. The combination also appeared to be superior to its individual components when studied in a randomized, nonblind trial. The principle of the combined use of antipsychotics and sedative-hypnotics was further tested by comparing two new combinations: thiothixene, 5 mg, and lorazepam, 4 mg, versus haloperidol, 5 mg, and phenobarbital sodium, 130 mg. These combinations had comparable efficacy and safety, and the level of transquilization approached that produced by the haloperidol-lorazepam combination in the preceding studies.