Psicofarmacoterapia

[This elusive unknown quantity: reflections on the prescription of psychotropic drugs in early childhood]

The scope of this article is to study aspects related to prescription habits and the use of psychoactive drugs in early childhood. It takes as a starting point the bibliographical survey carried out on the BVS and Scielo databases on epidemiological and clinical research in Brazil regarding the use of psychotropic drugs in children under six years of age. Based on international literature, it highlights the increase in the number of children diagnosed with mental and behavioral disorders, as well as the respective prescription of psychotropic drugs. It discusses the predominantly off-label character of psychoactive drugs for children under six years of age, the heterogeneous use of prescriptions and polypharmacology, pointing to an ethical paradox regarding clinical research in this age group. It concludes that the use of psychotropic drugs in early childhood is as yet not well known in Brazil, and epidemiological studies are urgently needed in this area.

Atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of pathological aggression in children and adolescents: literature review and clinical recommendations

OBJECTIVE

To review the literature about the use of atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of pathological aggression in children and adolescents.

METHOD

The databases MEDLINE, SciELO, and LILACS were searched for publications in Portuguese or English from 1992 to August 2011 using the following keywords: mental disease, child, adolescent, treatment, atypical antipsychotic, aggressive behavior, aggression, and violent behavior.

RESULTS

Sixty-seven studies of good methodological quality and clinical interest and relevance were identified. Studies including children and adolescents were relatively limited, because few atypical antipsychotics have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). All the medications included in this review (risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, ziprasidone, aripiprazole and clozapine) have some effectiveness in treating aggression in children and adolescents, and choices should be based on clinical indications and side effects.

CONCLUSIONS

There are few studies about the effectiveness and safety of atypical antipsychotics for the pediatric population, and further randomized controlled studies with larger groups of patients and more diagnostic categories, such as severe conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder, should be conducted to confirm the results reported up to date and to evaluate the impact of long-term use.

Drenagem linfática manual nos sintomas da síndrome pré-menstrual: estudo piloto

A síndrome pré-menstrual é um complexo de sintomas - dentre os quais o edema pré-menstrual - entre o 10o e o 14o dias que antecedem a menstruação e cessam no início do fluxo menstrual. A técnica de drenagem linfática manual (DLM) drena o excesso de líquido acumulado, atua no edema e poderia aliviar esses sintomas. O objetivo deste estudo piloto foi verificar o efeito da DLM no alívio dos sintomas da síndrome pré-menstrual e a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em quatro mulheres jovens. O estudo foi realizado ao longo de dois ciclos menstruais, ciclo 1 sem intervenção terapêutica, e o segundo ciclo, com aplicação da técnica de DLM. As participantes foram avaliadas, no início do ciclo 1 e final do ciclo 2, por anamnese, mensuração de estatura e massa, estimativa da composição corporal, diário de sintomas e quanto à qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde, pelo WHOQoL-bref. Os resultados mostraram redução significativa apenas do diâmetro de abdome superior nos níveis xifóide e umbilical; as médias total e individual dos sintomas do diário reduziram-se, porém sem significância, tal como ocorreu no aumento dos escores no WHOQoL-bref. A drenagem linfática manual foi eficaz na diminuição de um sintoma da síndrome pré-menstrual, o edema em região superior abdominal, e não alterou a qualidade de vida dessas jovens.