Abstract
Olanzapine pamoate is an intramuscular depot injection for the treatment
of schizophrenia. Approximately 1.4% of patients develop a serious
adverse event called Post Injection Delirium/Sedation Syndrome (PDSS);
characterised by drowsiness, anticholinergic and extrapyramidal
symptoms. The objective is to investigate olanzapine PDSS presentations
including clinical features and treatment approach. This is a
retrospective review of olanzapine PDSS patients from three toxicology
units and the NSW Poisons Information between 2017 and 2022. Adult
patients were included if they had intramuscular olanzapine then
developed PDSS criteria. Clinical symptoms, treatment, timing and length
of symptoms were extracted into a preformatted Excel database. There
were 18 patients included in the series, with a median age of 49 years
(IQR: 38-58) and male predominance (89%). Median onset time post
injection was 30 minutes (IQR: 11-38). PDSS symptoms predominate with
drowsiness, confusion and dysarthria. Median length of symptoms was 24
hours (IQR: 20-54). Most common treatment included supportive care
without any pharmacological intervention (n=10), benzodiazepine (n=4)
and benztropine (n=3). In one case, bromocriptine and physostigmine
followed by oral rivastigmine were given to manage anti-dopaminergic and
anti-cholinergic symptoms respectively. This proposed treatment
combination could alleviate some of the symptoms. In conclusion, this
case series supports the characterisation of PDSS symptomology
predominantly being anti-cholinergic with similar onset (<1
hour) and duration (<72hours). A combination of bromocriptine
and physostigmine followed by rivastigmine is proposed to manage PDSS if
patients develop severe dopamine blockade or anti-cholinergic delirium.