Efficacy and Safety of Loxapine in Acute Agitation: A Systematic Review of Interventional Studies.

Objective

To assess the efficacy and safety of loxapine in acute agitation. Data Sources: PubMed, Cochrane database, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched to identify relevant articles published in English or French from inception to March 15, 2022. The term "Loxap*" was searched in titles and abstracts. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Interventional studies that compared the effectiveness of loxapine to any other intervention (including another administration route or dosage of loxapine, other drugs, and placebo) in acute agitation were included. From the 1,435 articles initially identified, and after the assessment of 73 full texts, 7 articles were selected, encompassing 1,276 participants. Two reviewers independently extracted data of interest using a predefined form.

Results

Among included studies, 5 were double-blind, 2 were open-label, and all were randomized. The risk of bias was low for 2 studies, involving 658 participants. Four articles compared loxapine to placebo, and 3 compared it with haloperidol, aripiprazole, and droperidol. Loxapine was found to be more effective and faster regarding acute agitation control. Also, across included studies, loxapine was well-tolerated, with mildly or moderately severe adverse effects.

Conclusions

Notwithstanding methodological limitations of the included studies, this systematic review provides reassuring results regarding the use of loxapine in acute agitation. However, further studies with methodological optimizations might be of interest. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord 2023;25(6):23r03552. Author affiliations are listed at the end of this article.