USE OF TRANQUILIZERS IN DERMATOLOGY

Nine tranquilizing medicaments were compared clinically with respect to their usefulness in treatment of patients with dermatological disorders. To be included in the series the patients had to be treated for not less than four months and were examined by the physician not less than 12 times. Of the 740 patients considered, 180 were dropped from the therapeutic study because of side-reactions but were considered in the study of complications. The blind method of drug selection was utilized for 420 patients. As a specific modality in the therapy of dermatoses it appeared that tranquilizing drugs had little to offer. The only possible exception was hydroxyzine hydrochloride for patients with nummular eczema. As adjunctive therapy phrenotropic drugs aid in three different situations: when pruritus is severe, when patients have difficulty in sleeping, and when steroid dosage is being reduced.