Postanoxia-Induced Chorea Treated with Intravenous Fentanyl

Ashley Audi; Brittany Cunningham; Christopher Newey

doi:10.1155/2023/7652013

Postanoxia-Induced Chorea Treated with Intravenous Fentanyl

Case Rep Neurol Med. 2023 Apr 11:2023:7652013. doi: 10.1155/2023/7652013. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ashley Audi¹, Brittany Cunningham², Christopher Newey³

Affiliations

¹ Section of Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, USA.
² Section of Pharmacy, Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital, Akron, Ohio, USA.
³ Department Chair of Neurocritical Care and ICU-EEG, Sanford USD Medical Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA.

Abstract

The case presented is that of a young male with postanoxic brain injury secondary to cocaine overdose who began to exhibit choreiform movements of the left upper extremity. Traditional treatment options for chorea were unsuccessful, leading to the administration of fentanyl, which rapidly resolved the patient's choreiform movements. There is a limited research involving the treatment of chorea in anoxic brain injury as well as fentanyl's role in the movement pathway. We hypothesize that chorea can be caused or exacerbated by opioid withdrawal in a patient with chronic opioid use through modulation of dopamine transmission.

Publication types

Case Reports