Heisenberg in the ER: observation appears to reduce involuntary intramuscular injections in a psychiatric emergency service.

INTRODUCTION: Chemical restraint is controversial. Appropriate use is ill-defined and chemical restraint may be overutilized. During the period of an unrelated observational study for patients with acute psychomotor agitation in a psychiatric emergency service, we noticed a significant reduction in the number of involuntary intramuscular injections administered. RESULTS: We observed a 27% decrease (P=.015) in the number of involuntary intramuscular injections in the 3-month observational study period, compared to 3-month periods before and after the study. CONCLUSION: We suggest that the observation process itself may have been beneficial and may have reduced the incidence of unnecessary intramuscular injections.