Carbamazepine and Haloperidol v Placebo and Haloperidol in Excited Psychoses

TLDR

Carbamazepine has recently been reported to have therapeutic potential in mania. The study compared carbamazepine plus haloperidol versus placebo plus haloperidol in patients with excited psychoses in a controlled double‑blind design. Twenty‑three patients received five weeks of carbamazepine‑haloperidol therapy, while 20 patients received placebo‑haloperidol therapy. Carbamazepine plus haloperidol led to superior improvement on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale in both excited schizophrenia and mania, with no unusual toxicity observed.

Abstract

• Carbamazepine has recently been reported to have therapeutic potential in mania. We studied carbamazepine plus haloperidol v placebo plus haloperidol in excited psychoses in a controlled double-blind design. Twenty-three patients completed five weeks of carbamazepine-haloperidol therapy, and 20 patients placebo-haloperidol therapy. Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale ratings showed superior improvement in the group receiving carbamazepine plus haloperidol. This benefit was as apparent in excited schizophrenia as in mania. No unusual toxicity was observed because of the combination of haloperidol with carbamazepine.