United States experience with trazodone: a literature review.

This paper reviews clinically oriented manuscripts published over the last 5 years dealing with US experience with trazodone. Three major questions are addressed. First, there is ample documentation that trazodone is an effective antidepressant with results comparable to the tricyclic antidepressant agents in treating major depressive disorders. Second, trazodone offers significant safety advantages over other antidepressant drugs in overdose and has remarkably low levels of anticholinergic properties. Third, it is concluded that the unique structure of this drug and the balance between efficacy and side-effect profile combine to offer the clinician an interesting and potentially important treatment for depression.