title: A clinical trial of single dose rectal and oral administration of diazepam for the prevention of serial seizures in adult epileptic patients.
abstract: The clinical anticonvulsant efficacy of single dose rectal and oral administration of diazepam 20 mg was examined in two double-blind placebo-controlled trials in adult epileptic patients. All subjects suffered from drug resistant epilepsy and frequently experienced serial seizures. Diazepam was administered rectally as a new experimental suppository formulation immediately after a seizure and was highly effective in preventing recurrent fits within a 24 h observation period (p less than 0.001). Pharmacokinetic studies revealed a wide range of serum diazepam concentrations 60 min after administration of the suppository (mean serum diazepam level 190 +/- 73 (SD ng/ml). In a similar study oral administration of diazepam 20 mg significantly reduced the incidence of serial seizures compared with a placebo (p less than 0.01) and the mean 60 min serum diazepam level was 273 +/- 190 (SD) ng/ml.
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001682:Biological Availability; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003975:Diazepam / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D013488:Suppositories
chemical_list: D013488:Suppositories; D003975:Diazepam