Sections
Antipsychotic Medications: Introduction | Pharmacology | Indications | Adverse Effects | Adverse Effect Assessment and Monitoring | Managing Adverse Effects | Research Directions | Summary Points | References
Excerpt
Since their discovery in the 1950s, antipsychotics have
become an important pharmacological treatment option for a number
of severe mental disorders. In children and adolescents, antipsychotics
are increasingly used (Olfson et al. 2006) for both
psychotic and nonpsychotic disorders (Findling et al. 2005; Jensen et al. 2007). Emerging data from randomized controlled trials
(RCTs) indicate that antipsychotics have significantly greater efficacy
than placebo for pediatric bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and
irritability and aggression associated with autistic disorder. Due
to physiological developmental differences between children and
adults, higher antipsychotic doses per kilogram weight are generally
required in pediatric patients to achieve similar serum levels and
efficacy, and more frequent dosing per day may be required in younger
children (Woods et al. 2002). In addition, pediatric
patients appear to be more sensitive to several relevant antipsychotic
adverse effects compared with adults (Correll et al. 2006),
mandating careful treatment selection and adverse effect monitoring
and management in this vulnerable group of patients.