Evaluation of anxiolytic and amnesic effects of intramuscular lorazepam as a pre-operative medication.

In a double-blind investigation in 21 patients undergoing minor plastic surgery the effects of 4 mg lorazepam or a mixture of 20 mg papaveretum/400 mug hyoscine given intramuscularly as premedicants were studied. Lorazepam produced superior preoperative and post-operative anterograde amnesia, with respect to both incidence and duration. There was no difference in the pre-operative anxiolytic and soporofic effects of the two regimens and post-operatively, analgesic requirements and the incidence of vomitting and restlessness were the same in both groups of patients.