Diazepam

General

• Type: Benzodiazepines
• Dosage Forms:
• Common Trade Names: Valium

Adult Dosing

• Anxiety
  • PO: 2 - 10 mg 2-4 times daily

• Muscle spasm
  • PO: 2 - 10 mg 2-4 times daily

• Sedation in ICU
  • IV: Loading dose: 5 - 10 mg, Maintenance dose: 0.03 - 0.1 mg/kg every 30 minutes to 6 hours

Special Populations

• Pregnancy Rating: D
• Lactation: Diazepam and metabolites are present in breast milk
• Renal Dosing
  • Adult
    • Not defined
  • Pediatric
    • Not defined
• Hepatic Dosing
  • Adult
    • Not defined, use with caution, do not used oral tablets in severe hepatic impairment
  • Pediatric
    • Not defined, use with caution, do not used oral tablets in severe hepatic impairment

Contraindications

• Allergy to class/drug
• severe hepatic impairment

Adverse Reactions

Serious

• Respiratory/CNS depression
• Hypotension
• paradoxical CNS stimulation

Common

• drowsiness
• disinhibition
• ataxia

Pharmacology

• Half-life: 30-60 hours
• Metabolism: Liver
• Excretion: Urine
• Mechanism of Action: GABA agonist

References

• Diazepam: Drug information. UpToDate. www.uptodate.com. Accessed April 2, 2019.