[Kinetics of elimination of diazepam after intravenous injection in horses]

Diazepam is used in veterinary medicine as sedative and pre-anaesthetic agent. This publication describes the plasma-concentration time curve for diazepam and its metabolite in horses suffering from colic after intravenous application as pre-anaesthetic agent. Elimination half-life (t1/2 beta) after a dose of 0.05-0.08 mg/kg (30-50 mg Diazepam per horse) was 7.5 to 13.2 h. Total clearance (Cltot) between 1.86 and 3.44 ml/min/kg was detected and apparent volume of distribution in steady state (Vdiss) was 1.98 to 2.25 l/kg. Diazepam was still found in serum after 24 h. The metabolite oxazepam could be found in plasma. Its elimination half-life was 14-16.5 hours.