[Night-time premedication with Di-potassium-clorazepate, diazepam or a placebo before anaesthesia; a double-blind...

The efficacy of dipotassium clorazepate (DPCA) and of diazepam (DP) as night-time premedication was tested against a placebo in a double-blind trial in 300 patients of all ages. Examination of the patients in the morning before anaesthesia showed that tachycardia, nausea and anxiety were considerably less in patients who had been premedicated with DPCA or DP. Relief from anxiety and restlessness according to standardized self-evaluation scale was most marked in the DPCA group. There were statistically significant differences between the groups with respect to the sleep pattern: 66 per cent of patients in the DPCA group fell asleep within the normal time of 2-15 minutes compared with 53 per cent in the DP group and 48 per cent in the placebo group. Uninterrupted sleep until the morning was experienced by about 70 per cent of patients who had been premedicated with DPCA as against 47 per cent and 31 per cent who had been given DP or a placebo respectively. The total sleeping period was normal or slightly prolonged in 73 and 74 per cent of patients who had received one or the other drug but in only 38 per cent of patients in the placebo group. As regarded the quality of sleep (quiet, uninterrupted sleep and feeling rested) the DPCA group considered it to have been much sounder than did the other groups. On account of its marked ataractic and sleep-protecting properties DPCA is considered to be the most suitable agent for night-time premedication.