Gabapentin as a promising treatment for antipsychotic-induced movement disorders in schizoaffective and bipolar patients

Improvement of antipsychotic-induced blepharospasm and involuntary oral-mandibulo movements was observed with the use of the anticonvulsant drug gabapentin among 14 of 16 affectively ill patients who had been exposed to maintenance neuroleptics of the conventional type. In many cases, the movement disorders of these patients had not responded to more standard measures such as clozapine. This finding permits a potential strategy for patients with treatment-emergent tardive dyskinesia, a well-known complication of extended conventional neuroleptic use. Gabapentin, whose mood stabilizing properties have been reported in several clinical reports, represents a more natural treatment in the setting of bipolar spectrum disorders. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.