Psychosis following Caffeine Consumption in a Young Adolescent: Review of Case and Literature

Caffeine, a popular over-the-counter methylxanthine, is widely consumed for its potent psychoactive properties. Toxicity generally occurs with intentional overdose and is often multisystemic and life-threatening. Consumption by children is rarely planned, and safe doses are potentially toxic in them. A 12-year-old boy whose parents had denied him coffee on several occasions eventually had access to it. The caffeine dose ingested was sub-toxic although he developed severe and life-threatening multisystemic caffeinism. Following ingestion, he became aggressive and was talking irrationally, with visual and auditory hallucinations. In addition, he had severe abdominal pain, multiple vomiting episodes, circulatory collapse, hypertension, angioedema, dysfunctional tear syndrome, hyperglycemia, ketonuria, hypokalemia, and metabolic acidosis. The clinical presentation, laboratory findings, and interventions are reviewed and discussed. Besides routine immunization, routine anticipatory guidance should be at the center of preventive pediatrics. Packaging of caffeinated beverages should also target the prevention of caffeine toxicity in children.