Chest
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of lorazepam as premedication for bronchoscopy.
To our knowledge, no study has clearly demonstrated the advantage of sedative premedication for bronchoscopy. In a double-blind study, we evaluated the efficacy of oral lorazepam as premedication for bronchoscopy. One hundred patients were randomly assigned to receive placebo (group A) or lorazepam (2 mg) (group B) approximately 1.5 h before bronchoscopy. ⋯ Moreover, their recollection of the procedure was now less precise than for those who had received the placebo (p < 0.005). This suggests that the difference observed between the two groups at 24 h was related to the amnesic effect of lorazepam. We conclude that lorazepam, by improving patient's perception of the bronchoscopy, is a useful premedication and may facilitate patient's investigation when a second bronchoscopy becomes necessary.