Parenteral loxapine in severely disturbed schizophrenic patients

Loxapine is a tricyclic antipsychotic drug of the dibenzoxapine class. An uncontrolled open trial of this compound has been performed by intramuscular route in 28 patients previously refractory to other neuroleptic drugs. These patients received 50 to 200 mg loxapine daily by intramuscular route. Clinical evaluation, BPRS, NOISE and biological evaluation were performed before and at the 8th day of the treatment. Global clinical evaluation and statistical analysis of BPRS showed the high efficacy of loxapine with a sedative effect during the initial phase and a disinhibiting and "hallucinolytic" character at a later stage. Tolerance to the preparation appeared good both locally and systematically with the possible exception of transient effects upon body temperature.