Know When to Choose an Antipsychotic or Benzo for Acute Agitation

Increasing use of IV olanzapine will lead to more questions about initial treatment of acute agitation in hospitalized patients.

About 1.7 million ED visits/year in the U.S. are due to agitation...and it's the leading cause of injury to hospital staff.

Continue to look for underlying causes...missed meds, untreated pain, acute illness, etc...and to try verbally calming patients. But often a dose or two of a parenteral med is needed for SEVERE agitation.