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Evidence summaries

Olanzapine Im or Velotab for Acutely Disturbed/Agitated People with Suspected Serious Mental Illnesses.

Olanzapine IM appears to have similar efficacy as the older, better known treatments in the management of acute aggression or agitation, however, the side effects are less well-known. Level of evidence: "B"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 4 studies with a total of 769 subjects. Fewer people given olanzapine IM had 'no important response' by 2 hours compared with placebo (4 RCTs, n=769, RR 0.49 CI 0.42 to 0.59, NNT 4 CI 3 to 5) and olanzapine IM was as acceptable as placebo (2 RCTs, n=354, RR leaving the study early 0.31 CI 0.06 to 1.55). When compared with placebo, people given olanzapine IM required substantially fewer additional injections following the initial dose (4 RCTs, n=774, RR 0.48 CI 0.40 to 0.58, NNT 4 CI 4 to 5). Olanzapine IM did not seem associated with extrapyramidal effects (4 RCT, n=570, RR experiencing any adverse event requiring anticholinergic medication in first 24 hours 1.27 CI 0.49 to 3.26). Two trials compared olanzapine IM with haloperidol IM (total n=482, 166 allocated to haloperidol). Studies found no differences between olanzapine IM and haloperidol by 2 hours for the outcome of 'no important clinical response' (2 RCTs, n= 482, RR 1.00 CI 0.73 to 1.38) neither was there a difference for needing repeat IM injections (2 RCTs, n=482, RR 0.99 CI 0.71 to 1.38). More people on haloperidol experienced akathisia over the five day oral period compared with olanzapine IM (1 RCT, n=257, RR 0.51 CI 0.32 to 0.80, NNT 6 CI 5 to 15) and fewer people allocated to olanzapine IM required anticholinergic medication by 24 hours compared with those given haloperidol IM (2 RCTs, n= 432, RR 0.20 CI 0.09 to 0.44, NNT 8 CI 7 to 11). Two trials compared olanzapine IM with lorazepam IM (total n=355, 119 allocated to lorazepam). For the outcome of 'no important clinical response' , there was no difference between people given olanzapine IM and those allocated to lorazepam at 2 hours (2 RCTs, n=355, RR 92 CI 0.66 to 1.30) but fewer people allocated to olanzapine IM required additional injections by 24 hours compared with those on lorazepam IM (2 RCTs, n=355, RR 0.68 CI 0.49 to 0.95, NNT 10 CI 6 to 59). People receiving IM olanzapine were less likely to experience any treatment emergent adverse events, than those on lorazepam (1 RCT, n=150, RR at 24 hours 0.62 CI 0.43 to 0.89, NNT 5 CI 4 to 17) and over the same time period there were no clear differences in the use of anticholinergic medication between groups (1 RCT, n=150, RR 1.16 CI 0.38 to 3.58). No studies reported outcomes related to hospital and service use. Nor did any report on issues of satisfaction with care or suicide, self-harm or harm to others. No studies evaluated the oro-dispersable form of olanzapine.

References

  • Belgamwar RB, Fenton M. Olanzapine IM or velotab for acutely disturbed/agitated people with suspected serious mental illnesses. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2005 Apr 18;(2):CD003729. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords