Droperidol in the interim management of severe mania: case reports and literature review.

There is little information in the literature concerning the use of droperidol in psychiatry. This article presents three cases in which extremely agitated and treatment-refractory persons with mixed mania derived benefit from droperidol administered orally. Symptomatic improvement, including decreased agitation and intrusiveness, improved sleep, and decreased rates of sleep, was observed with the use of oral droperidol at doses ranging from 10-80 mg daily. The only adverse reaction was a dystonia in one patient. This article also reviews the limited available literature on the use of droperidol in psychiatry. Only eight English language articles describing the use of droperidol for psychosis or agitation were found. Future controlled studies to examine the usefulness of oral dosing of droperidol in mania are suggested.