Aripiprazole Induced Severe Parkinsonian Symptoms - A Case Report

Among the next generation of antipsychotics, aripiprazole is the molecule, which has been defined to have a special mode of action, which is the stabilization of the dopamine system. Different studies have found the incidence of extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) with this antipsychotic to be very much insignificant. Studies done so far have reported the incidence of extrapyramidal side effects to be equal to that caused by placebo: here is a case report of a 19 years old female patient suffering from schizophrenic illness, who developed severe EPS in the form of marked rigidity, tremors, drooling of saliva, masked face, significant hypokinesia and difficulty in maintaining straight posture after receiving 20 mg of aripiprazole per day. This led to severe disturbance in her routine functioning and the EPS disappeared within a week after stopping the medicine and administration of anticholinergic drug.