Benzodiazepines given for ACS anxiety, pain may trigger posttraumatic stress symptoms

Reuters Health - 21/01/2021 - In patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), use of benzodiazepines to manage stress and anxiety is associated with an increased risk of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), researchers say. "The study was prompted by literature showing that patients who experienced a potentially traumatic event such as an accident or those who survived a critical illness, which required a stay on the intensive care unit, developed PTSS when they had received benzodiazepines at or around the time of the trauma or on the ICU," Dr. Roland von Kanel of University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland told Reuters Health by email. "As patients often receive benzodiazepines when referred to the hospital with a heart attack (often perceived traumatic by patients)," he said, "we wondered whether benzodiazepines would also be associated with an increased risk of developing PTSS after a heart attack." As reported in the Journal of the American Heart Associatio...

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Posted on 21 January, 20211 February, 2021