Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36937113›Full record

ArticleTherapeutic advances in psychopharmacology2023

The role of flumazenil in generalised anxiety disorder: a pilot naturalistic open-label study with a focus on treatment resistance.

Alexander T Gallo, Stephen Addis, Vlad Martyn, Hishani Ramanathan, Grace K Wilkerson, Kellie S Bennett, Sean D Hood, Hans Stampfer, Gary K Hulse

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Article in Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Alexander T GalloDivision of Psychiatry, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, 6009, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8647-4968
Stephen AddisFresh Start Recovery Programme, Subiaco, WA, Australia.
Vlad MartynFresh Start Recovery Programme, Subiaco, WA, Australia.
Hishani RamanathanDivision of Psychiatry, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.
Grace K WilkersonDivision of Psychiatry, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.
Kellie S BennettDivision of Psychiatry, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.
Sean D HoodDivision of Psychiatry, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.
Hans StampferDivision of Psychiatry, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.
Gary K HulseDivision of Psychiatry, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent and chronic disorders with treatment resistance to current pharmacotherapies occurring in approximately one in three patients. It has been postulated that flumazenil (FMZ) is efficacious in the management of anxiety disorders via the removal of α Objective: To assess the safety and feasibility of continuous low-dose FMZ infusions for the management of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and collect preliminary efficacy data. Design: Uncontrolled, open-label pilot study. Method: Participants had a primary diagnosis of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and received two consecutive subcutaneous continuous low-dose FMZ infusions. Each infusion contained 16 mg of FMZ and was delivered over 96 ± 19.2 h. The total dose of FMZ delivered was 32 mg over approximately 8 days. Sodium valproate was given to participants at risk of seizure. The primary outcome was the change in stress and anxiety subscale scores on the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 between baseline, day 8, and day 28. Results: Nine participants with a primary diagnosis of GAD were treated with subcutaneous continuous low-dose FMZ infusions; seven participants met the criteria for treatment resistance. There was a significant decrease in anxiety and stress between baseline and day 8 and baseline and day 28. There was also a significant improvement in subjective sleep quality from baseline to day 28 measured by the Jenkins Sleep Scale. No serious adverse events occurred. Conclusion: This study presents preliminary results for subcutaneous continuous low-dose FMZ's effectiveness and safety in GAD. The findings suggest that it is a safe, well-tolerated, and feasible treatment option in this group of patients. Future randomised control trials are needed in this field to determine the efficacy of this treatment.

Indexed as

anxietyDASS-21flumazenilGABAinfusionsubcutaneoustreatment-resistant

Identifiers

PMID36937113
PMCPMC10021101

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.