Tardive dyskinesia:Aneurologicalsyndromecharacterized by repetitive,involuntary, purposeless movements caused by the long-term use of certain drugs called neuroleptics used forpsychiatric,gastrointestinal, and neurological disorders. Features may include grimacing;tongueprotrusion;lipsmacking, puckering, and pursing; and rapideyeblinking. Rapid movements of thearms, legs, and trunk may also occur. Theincidenceof the syndrome rises with the dose and duration of drug treatment. The treatment of tardive dyskinesis is usually to stop or minimize the use of the offending drug if possible. Replacing the offending drug with substitute drugs may help.
Drugs that most commonly cause tardive dyskinesia include chlorpromazine (Thorazine),haloperidol(Haldol),fluphenazine(Prolixin),perphenazine(Trilafon), prochlorperazine (Compro),thioridazine(Mellaril), and trifluoperazine (Stelazine). Others includemetoclopramide(Reglan), levodopa (Sinemet),amitriptyline(Elavil),fluoxetine(Prozac),sertraline(Zoloft), trazadone (Desyrel), andphenobarbital.
