ABSTRACT
Insomnia is a highly prevalent phenomenon, with a high level of psychiatric, physical, and social disability. Although multiple pharmacological agents have been employed in treating this debilitating condition, the benefits associated with such agents, in terms of increasing nocturnal sleep, have been offset by a number of untoward effects in keeping with their sedative properties, in particular residual daytime sleepiness and cognitive impairment. Sleep maintenance insomnia has proven particularly difficult to treat in this regard, with clinicians having to find a balance between agents that are effective throughout the night, while minimizing next-day effects. In recent years, zaleplon, an ultra-short-acting hypnotic, has been developed as a means of providing insomnia relief without residual daytime effects, including with middle-of-night use. This chapter reviews the evidence supporting the clinical efficacy and safety of zaleplon as a treatment for the heterogeneous phenomenon of insomnia.
