Oral benzodiazepines and conscious sedation: a review.

A large number of benzodiazepines have been studied for use as sedatives and for their anxiolytic potential as premedicants for outpatient surgery. Potent, new, orally-administered drugs with short half-lives, rapid onset, and minimal residual effects have been developed. Dose-dependent amnesia is also produced by some of these agents. Advances in understanding receptor physiology have shed light on specific pharmacologic activities and aided the discovery of benzodiazepine antagonists with antidote properties. While these drugs have relatively low toxicity, dose-related oversedation remains a risk in susceptible patients, especially when combined with other sedatives.