A Way of Conceptualizing Benzodiazepines to Guide Clinical Use

Benzodiazepines are medications that are widely used for a number of different therapeutic indications and in a wide range of patients in terms of age and health status. Presented here is a simple 2 by 2 way of classifying all of the most commonly used benzodiazepines. This conceptualization is based on the most clinically relevant ways of differentiating these drugs: (a) their affinity for their common and predominant mechanism of action, the benzodiazepine-binding site of the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-A iontropic receptor (ie, the chloride ion channel); and (b) their pharmacokinetics (ie, their half-lives and metabolism). The science underlying this conceptualization is presented and then its clinical applicability is discussed. This system can help clinicians select the most appropriate benzodiazepine for their patients and better understand how to switch between these medications to minimize withdrawal symptoms; it also provides a rational basis for cautiously using these agents in combination when necessary, in a manner analogous to the combined use of short-acting and long-acting forms of insulin.