What about temperature? Haloperidol-induced hypotermia

BMJ Case Rep. 2013 Sep 19:2013:bcr2013200321. doi: 10.1136/bcr-2013-200321.

Abstract

The use of treatment with antipsychotic drugs highlights the difficulty of finding the right balance between the benefit on psychotic symptoms and the risk of the occurrence of adverse reactions. There is a strong genetic and pharmacological evidence supporting the hypothesis that activation of D2 receptors could lead to hypothermia and that the treatment haloperidol is capable of inducing hypothermia apomorfino similarily in laboratory animals. It also seems that, haloperidol is not the only antipsychotic able to determine this type of reaction, as some evidence suggests that other drugs such as reserpine, chlorpromazine would be capable of inducing hypothermia. Finally, while some studies suggest the possible occurrence of haloperidol-induced hypothermia only in laboratory animals, other authors argue that this same reaction can occur in humans as well. In this report, we describe the cases, rarely witnessed in the literature, of three patients in whom the administration of haloperidol caused hypothermia.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Antipsychotic Agents / adverse effects
  • Antipsychotic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Body Temperature / drug effects*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Haloperidol / adverse effects*
  • Haloperidol / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Hypothermia / chemically induced*
  • Hypothermia / physiopathology
  • Male
  • Psychotic Disorders / drug therapy
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antipsychotic Agents
  • Haloperidol