Monitoring Haloperidol Plasma Concentration and Associated Adverse Events in Critically Ill Children With Delirium: First Results of a Clinical Protocol Aimed to Monitor Efficacy and Safety.

OBJECTIVES: As delirium in critically ill children is increasingly recognized, more children are treated with the antipsychotic drug haloperidol, while current dosing guidelines are lacking solid evidence and appear to be associated with a high risk of adverse events. We aim to report on the safety and efficacy of a recently implemented clinical dose-titration protocol with active monitoring of adverse events. DESIGN: From July 2014 until June 2015, when a potential delirium was identified by regular delirium scores and confirmed by a child psychiatrist, haloperidol was prescribed according to the Dutch Pediatric Formulary. Daily, adverse events were systematically assessed, haloperidol plasma concentrations were measured, and delirium symptoms followed. Dependent on the clinical response, plasma concentration, and adverse event, the dose was adjusted. SETTING: A 28-bed tertiary PICU in the Netherlands. PATIENTS: All patients admitted to the PICU diagnosed with delirium. INTERVENTION: Treatment with haloperidol according to a dose-titration protocol MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:: Thirteen children (median age [range] 8.3 yr [0.4-13.8 yr]) received haloperidol, predominantly IV (median dose [range] 0.027 mg/kg/d [0.005-0.085 mg/kg/d]). In all patients, pediatric delirium resolved, but five of 13 patients developed possible adverse event. These were reversed after biperiden (n = 2), discontinuing (n = 3), and/or lowering the dose (n = 3). Plasma concentrations were all below the presumed therapeutic threshold of 3-12 µg/L. CONCLUSIONS: Prospective systematic monitoring of adverse event in critically ill children receiving haloperidol revealed a significant proportion of possible adverse events. Adverse event developed despite low plasma concentrations and recommended dose administration in the majority of the patients. Our data suggest that haloperidol can potentially improve pediatric delirium, but it might also put patients at risk for developing adverse events.

Intoxication of a Young Girl Reveals the Pitfalls of GHB Rapid Screening.

The authors discuss the case of a 14-year-old girl who was transferred to the ICU of our hospital with ethanol intoxication (3.3 g/L), loss of consciousness (E5M3V1), and severe amnesia on recovery that was suspected of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) intoxication. STAT toxicology screening may be necessary, when sexual assault under GHB intoxication is suspected. Therefore, the initial analysis of a urine sample was performed with a new enzymatic assay analysis for GHB. The enzymatic assay reported a GHB concentration of 26 mg/L, which is above the cut-off value of 10 mg/L. This cut-off value is to differentiate endogenous and exogenous levels because low levels of GHB occur naturally in the body. However, confirmation of these results by gas chromatography, which is common practice to confirm a positive GHB, gave a negative result. This discrepancy is probably contributed to interference of ethanol with the assay. This is a substantial downside of the GHB rapid screening, since the combination of GHB and ethanol is common. It is therefore advised to confirm that the positive GHB results are lower than 50 mg/L by gas chromatography, when using the rapid screening. This way the false-positive results and consequent inappropriate social and legal actions may be avoided.