Title:Revisiting Antipsychotic-induced Akathisia: Current Issues and Prospective Challenges
Volume: 15
Issue: 5
Author(s): Haitham Salem, Caesa Nagpal, Teresa Pigott and Antonio Lucio Teixeira*
Affiliation:
- Neuropsychiatry Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School. The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas,United States
Keywords:
Akathisia, antipsychotics, neuroleptics, movement disorders, agitation, anticholinergics, benzodiazepines,
extrapyramidal signs.
Abstract: Background: Akathisia continues to be a significant challenge in current neurological and
psychiatric practice. Prompt and accurate detection is often difficult and there is a lack of consensus
concerning the neurobiological basis of akathisia. No definitive treatment has been established for
akathisia despite numerous preclinical and clinical studies.]
Method: We reviewed antipsychotic-induced akathisia including its clinical presentation, proposed
underlying pathophysiology, current and under investigation therapeutic strategies.
Conclusion: Despite the initial promise that second generation antipsychotics would be devoid of
akathisia effects, this has not been confirmed. Currently, there are limited therapeutic options for the
clinical practice and the evidence supporting the most widely used treatments (beta blockers,
anticholinergic drugs) is still absent or inconsistent.
