Comparison of the Effectiveness of Intravenous Promethazine and Intravenous Diazepam in the Treatment of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo in the Emergency Department

Objective: The aim of researches was comparing the effectiveness of promethazine with that of diazepam in the treatment of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) in the emergency department.

Methods: This clinical trial was conducted on 100 patients with BPPV who were presented in the emergency department of Besat Hospital, Tehran, IR Iran, March 2013- March 2014. Patients were selected based on convenience sampling method, matched according to their age, sex, clinical symptoms and features, and then randomly divided into two groups. 50 patients received promethazine and 50 patients received diazepam.

Results: Both drugs had comparable effects (P value ‹ 0.05). The clinically treatment of BBPV was seen in 76% of patients in the promethazine group and 82% of whom received diazepam. The median of the duration with a feel of heaviness in the head after the first injection was 37 minutes in the promethazine group and 33 minutes in the diazepam group. The time to discharge the patient in the promethazine group was 30 minutes longer than the diazepam group.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated no more effectiveness of study medications on each other in management of BPPV, but given the better performance of diazepam regarding the secondary outcomes compared to promethazine, it could be the preferred choice in patients with BPPV.