Review: Drug Induced Akathisia in Medical and Surgical Patients

Drug-induced akathisia is a significant and common iatrogenic disorder. It involves both a subjective component of a disturbing sense of compulsion to move and an objective component of motor restlessness. Akathisia is being seen with increasing frequency in medical and surgical patients. This is due to the increased use of anti-emetics or novel adjuncts to pain control as well as more widespread use of the major psychoactive drugs throughout medicine. This review focuses on diagnostic features of the disorder as well as on possible treatment approaches. In addition, the disorder demonstrates the close anatomic and functional relationship between cortical and subcortical dopaminergic pathways. Akathisia is thus both an increasingly significant clinical problem and a fascinating glimpse at the relationship between brain function and behavior.