Abstract
Benzodiazepines produce central nervous system (CNS) depression by facilitating postsynaptic γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-A binding and skeletal muscle relaxation through presynaptic GABA-mediated neuronal inhibition. Though used frequently in psychiatric disorders, this class of medication has limited use in pain syndromes due to lack of proven efficacy. Instead, pain providers use intravenous midazolam for sedation during interventional pain procedures and diazepam can treat spastic central nervous system disorders such as cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury.
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Netzel, C.L., Abd-Elsayed, A. (2019). Benzodiazepines. In: Abd-Elsayed, A. (eds) Pain. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99124-5_63
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99124-5_63
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