title: The use of oral benzodiazepines as premedications: the usefulness of temazepam.
abstract: The primary aim of premedication is to relieve the patient's anxiety/restlessness before anaesthesia and to ensure optimum quantity and quality of sleep on the night preceding surgery. With these objectives in mind, oral benzodiazepines offer a good alternative to traditional parenteral premedicants, especially as the clear anxiolytic and sedative effects of the former are of great clinical value. Oral temazepam has proven to be a valuable premedicant given on the evening before operation and/or the following morning, before surgery. Administered as a sedative in a single 20 mg oral dose the night before surgery, temazepam provided a good night's sleep in 77 percent of gynaecological surgical patients; patients slept for 7.6 hours and had no significant residual effects. As a premedicant, temazepam was as effective as parenteral diazepam or papaveretum. Temazepam's short duration of action facilitates rapid postoperative recovery in children, adults, and in the elderly. Thus, it is indicated especially for short operative procedures when rapid recovery and swift return to fitness are essential.
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D006801:Humans; D011229:Preanesthetic Medication; D013693:Temazepam / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D013693:Temazepam