Publication:

An unusual case of trifluoperazine induced hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is a serious condition which if not diagnosed and treated urgently may cause irreversible damage to the brain and may be life threatening. There are various causes attributed to hypoglycemia, but drugs are one of the most important one of them. Various drugs are documented to cause hypoglycemia but we present a rare case report of a 52-year-old male patient with schizoaffective disorder on trifluoperazine who presented in emergency department with documented hypoglycemia and this hypoglycemic episode improved when the drug was withdrawn. When WHO causality assessment scale was applied, trifluoperazine was found as the probable cause of the episodes of hypoglycemia. Therefore, this possibility of hypoglycemia should always be kept in mind while prescribing trifluoperazine.