TY - JOUR
T1 - Crippling Side Effects Induced by Paliperidone Palmitate Treatment
T2 - A Case Report
AU - Al-Mahrouqi, Tamadhir
AU - Al-Kindi, Ameera
AU - Al-Harrasi, Ahmed
N1 - Copyright © 2021, Al-Mahrouqi et al.
PY - 2021/2/27
Y1 - 2021/2/27
N2 - In this report, we present the case of a 20-year-old woman with schizophrenia, who had been treated with a once-monthly dosage of long-acting paliperidone palmitate due to poor adherence to oral antipsychotics. She presented to the emergency department of the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), Muscat, Oman, with tachycardia, difficulty in breathing, difficulty in swallowing, choking, excessive production of saliva, drooling, urinary incontinence, blurry vision, a shuffling gait, slowness of movement, stooped posture, muscle rigidity, tremor, and hyperprolactinemia. The paliperidone palmitate injections were discontinued and the patient underwent a treatment course with procyclidine, and she subsequently achieved full recovery within seven days. It appears that even though the long-acting paliperidone palmitate prescription had improved her psychotic symptoms, it also induced several potentially life-threatening conditions. This case report highlights the diagnostic challenge represented by the overlapping features of the neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) and extrapyramidal side effects (EPS).
AB - In this report, we present the case of a 20-year-old woman with schizophrenia, who had been treated with a once-monthly dosage of long-acting paliperidone palmitate due to poor adherence to oral antipsychotics. She presented to the emergency department of the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), Muscat, Oman, with tachycardia, difficulty in breathing, difficulty in swallowing, choking, excessive production of saliva, drooling, urinary incontinence, blurry vision, a shuffling gait, slowness of movement, stooped posture, muscle rigidity, tremor, and hyperprolactinemia. The paliperidone palmitate injections were discontinued and the patient underwent a treatment course with procyclidine, and she subsequently achieved full recovery within seven days. It appears that even though the long-acting paliperidone palmitate prescription had improved her psychotic symptoms, it also induced several potentially life-threatening conditions. This case report highlights the diagnostic challenge represented by the overlapping features of the neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) and extrapyramidal side effects (EPS).
U2 - 10.7759/cureus.13588
DO - 10.7759/cureus.13588
M3 - Article
C2 - 33796427
SN - 2168-8184
VL - 13
SP - e13588
JO - Cureus
JF - Cureus
IS - 2
ER -