Incapacitating agents review: 20 years after Nord Ost Siege

Incapacitating agents are chemical weapons that produce a temporary disabling condition that persists for hours or days after exposure. Their main site of action is the central nervous system and includes substances that are considered depressants or stimulants. While not intended to cause death, can produce significant morbidity in affected patients. The objective of this narrative review is to update the toxicokinetics, toxicodynamics, diagnosis, and treatment of these chemicals, considering that 20 years have passed since the Nord Ost Siege, where a fentanyl derivative was used by Russian forces to neutralize a group of Chechen dissidents. A bibliographic search was carried out in PubMed, SciELO, and Cochrane Library databases as well as nonindexed scientific literature.