Indications
It is indicated for the treatment of panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia. Panic disorder is characterized by the occurrence of unexpected panic attacks and associated concern about having additional attacks, worry about the implications or consequences of the attacks.
It is also indicated alone or as an adjunct in the treatment of the Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (petit mal variant), akinetic and myoclonic seizures. It may be indicated in patients with absence seizures (petit mal) who have failed to respond to succinimides.
The effectiveness of Clonazepam in long-term use, that is, for more than 9 weeks, has not been systematically studied in controlled clinical trials. The physician who elects to use Clonazepam for extended periods should periodically reevaluate the long-term usefulness of the drug for the individual patient.
Therapeutic Class
Pharmacology
Dosage & Administration
Oral:
- Adults: The initial dose for adults with seizure disorders should not exceed 1.5 mg/day divided into three doses. Dosage may be increased in increments of 0.5 to 1 mg every 3 days until seizures are adequately controlled or until side effects preclude any further increase. Maintenance dosage must be individualized for each patient depending upon response. Maximum recommended daily dose is 20 mg.
- The initial dose for adults with panic disorder is 0.25 mg given in two divided dose. An increase to the target dose for most patients of 1 mg/day may be made after 3 days.
- Pediatric Patients: In order to minimize drowsiness, the initial dose for infants and children (up to 10 years of age or 30 kg of body weight) should be between 0.01 and 0.03 mg/kg/day but not to exceed 0.05 mg/kg/day given in two or three divided doses.
Injection:
- Infants and children: half of a vial (0.5 mg) by slow IV injection or by IV infusion.
- Adults: 1 vial (1 mg) by slow IV injection or by IV infusion. This dose can be repeated as required (1-4 mg are usually sufficient to reverse the status). In adults, the rate of injection must not exceed 0.25 – 0.5 mg per minute (0.5-1.0 ml of the prepared solution) and a total dose of 10 mg should not be exceeded.
Interaction
Contraindications
Side Effects
Pregnancy & Lactation
Precautions & Warnings
Overdose Effects
Reconstitution
Slow intravenous injection: The contents of the vial must be diluted with 1 ml of water for injection prior to administration so as to avoid local irritation of the veins. The injection solution should be prepared immediately before use. IV injection should be administered slowly with continuous monitoring of EEG, respiration and blood pressure.
Intravenous infusion: Clonazepam (the vial) can be diluted for infusion in a ratio of 1 vial (1 mg) to at least 85 ml diluting media. The diluting media can be any of the following: sodium chloride 0.9%; sodium chloride 0.45% + glucose 2.5%; glucose 5% or glucose 10%. These mixtures are stable for 24 hours at room temperature. Infusion bags other than PVC should be used for infusing Clonazepam. If PVC infusion bags are used then the mixture should be infused immediately or within 4 hours. The infusion time should not exceed 8 hours. Do not prepare Clonazepam infusions using sodium bicarbonate solution, as precipitation of the solution may occur.
Intramuscular injection: The IM route should be used only in exceptional cases or if IV administration is not feasible.
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