Select the false statement related to acepromazine:

• A. Acepromazine is a sedative
• B. Acepromazine can be administered orally, trans-mucosally, or injected
• C. Acepromazine is a true anxiolytic
• D. Acepromazine is rarely used as a single agent drug

Answer: (C)

Acepromazine acts as a tranquilizer that provides sedation and calm behavior, but it does not have true anxiolytic properties. It calms mainly by sedating and reducing overall activity through central dopaminergic blockade and peripheral alpha-1–adrenergic effects, not by directly relieving anxiety in the mechanism sense that true anxiolytics do (like benzodiazepines or certain other agents that reduce the underlying anxiety state without heavy sedation). Because of this, the statement that acepromazine is a true anxiolytic is not correct.

What acepromazine does offer is useful: it reliably sedates and calms an anxious patient, and it can be given by several routes—oral, transmucosal, or by injection—making it versatile as a premedication. However, it lacks analgesia and can cause hypotension due to alpha-1 blockade, so it is often used in combination with other agents and is rarely used as a single agent for procedures requiring pain control.