Haldol in burn patients

Q; Why Haldol (Haloperidol) should be used with caution in patients with thermal injury?

Answer: Neuropsychiatric complications are commonly seen in patients with burns/thermal patients. Haloperidol is frequently used to treat severe psychopathic behavior. In patients with thermal injury, there could be an increased tendency of severe muscle rigidity - an extrapyramidal side effect of the agent.

Haloperidol causes a relative imbalance of dopaminergic and cholinergic neuronal activity in the basal ganglia, with a relative increase in the cholinergic activity being responsible for EPS. The patient with burns/thermal injury may be more prone to extrapyramidal symptoms because of the increased sensitivity of skeletal muscle neuromuscular junctions to acetylcholine after thermal injury.

#burns

#pharmacology

Reference:

Haloperidol Complications in Burn Patients. Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation. 8(4):269-273