The Acute Onset of Edema Caused by Risperidone in a Schizophrenic Patient: A Case Report

Abstract

Background: Various atypical antipsychotics have been associated with peripheral edema. The exact mechanism of creating edema is not clear yet. Case Report: A 55-year-old woman with schizophrenia developed pedal edema after taking risperidone, which resolved after discontinuation. However, her symptoms returned when risperidone was restarted. Switching to aripiprazole resolved her edema, with a reduction in dosage preventing further swelling. No edema-related side effects were observed during a 6-month follow-up period. Conclusion: Therefore, it would be recommended that patients, especially those receiving high doses of aripiprazole or risperidone, should be monitored for these side effects. Despite the very low incidence of edema due to the aripiprazole administration, the probable occurrence of this adverse effect should always be considered by psychiatrists, as it may affect patients’ compliance with the prescription. In our case, the reappearance of edema is strong evidence indicating risperidone and aripiprazole cause the swelling.

Keywords

• edema
• risperidone
• aripiprazole
• schizophrenia