A Rare Cause of Pulmonary Embolism in Children: Use of Risperidone

Abstract

Pulmonary embolism is a very rare clinical picture in the pediatric age group known to be healthy and usually develops in the presence of at least one risk factor (immobility, hypovolemia, malignancy, trauma, hereditary thrombotic disorders, etc). Risperidone is a relatively safe antipsychotic drug. Pulmonary embolism (PE) is not a common and well-known side effect of risperidone in children. In this case report, a 17.5-year-old male patient presented with abdominal pain, fever and respiratory distress to the pediatric emergency department and was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism after radiological examinations. It is thought to be a rare adverse effect due to risperidone treatment, in which the patient has no known classical risk factors for thromboembolism and all thrombophilia tests are normal. Up to the present, a case of PE development due to the use of risperidone in pediatric patients has been reported in the literature. There are no cases in the literature, of adolescents developing PE due to the use of risperidone without an underlying risk factor.

Keywords

• pulmonary embolism
• risperidone
• risk factors
• adverse effect
• adolescent