Side Effects and Contraindications

Flumazenil has been given in large oral and intravenous doses with remarkably few toxic reactions.^[374] It is free of local or tissue irritant properties, and it has no known organotoxicities. Like all benzodiazepines, it appears to have a high safety margin, probably higher than that of agonists, because it does not produce prominent CNS depression. An important caution is that resedation could occur because of the relatively short half-life of the drug.

Figure 10-20 Stereoisomers of ketamine as it is formulated.