Several classes of drugs are used to produce analgesic effects in patients for acute and chronic pain control, sedation and anesthesia, and anxiety relief. All drugs have a dose range, where the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are used to produce the desired mechanism of action of the drug that is effective and safe (producing minimal to no side effects) to the patient. Let’s look deeper into the use of benzodiazepines and opioids, their mechanism of action, their effect and what happens when you have too much of a good thing. Discussion includes approaches to decontamination and goals of treatment.
