Acute psychosis

Background

• Caused by many psychiatric and medical conditions
• Examples: schizophrenia, mania

Clinical Features

• Agitation
• Restlessness
• Irritability
• Decreased attention
• innappropriate or hostile behaviors

Differential Diagnosis

Altered mental status

Diffuse brain dysfunction

• Hypoxic encephalopathy
• Acute toxic-metabolic encephalopathy (Delirium)
  • Hypoglycemia
  • Hyperosmolar state (e.g., hyperglycemia)
  • Electrolyte Abnormalities (hypernatremia or hyponatremia, hypercalcemia)
  • Organ system failure
  • Hepatic Encephalopathy
  • Uremia/Renal Failure
  • Endocrine (Addison's disease, Cushing syndrome, hypothyroidism, myxedema coma, thyroid storm)
  • Hypoxia
  • CO2 narcosis
• Hypertensive Encephalopathy
• Toxins
• TTP / Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
• Alcohol withdrawal
• Drug reactions (NMS, Serotonin Syndrome)
• Environmental causes
  • Hypothermia
  • Hyperthermia
• Deficiency state
  • Wernicke encephalopathy
  • Subacute Combined Degeneration of Spinal Cord (B12 deficiency)
  • Vitamin D Deficiency
  • Zinc Deficiency
• Sepsis
• Osmotic demyelination syndrome (central pontine myelinolysis)
• Limbic encephalitis

Primary CNS disease or trauma

• Direct CNS trauma
  • Diffuse axonal injury
  • Subdural/epidural hematoma
• Vascular disease
  • Intraparenchymal hemorrhage
• SAH
• Stroke
  • Hemispheric, brainstem
• CNS infections
  • Encephalitis
  • Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis
  • Meningitis
• Neoplasms
  • Paraneoplastic Limbic encephalitis
  • Malignant Meningitis
  • Pancreatic Insulinoma
• Seizures
  • Nonconvulsive status epilepticus
  • Postictal state
• Dementia
  • Alzheimer's
  • Lewy Body Dementia
  • Frontotemporal Dementia

Psychiatric

• Acute psychosis
• Catatonia
• Excited delirium
• Malingering
• Steroid induced psychosis

Psychiatric Disorders with Psychotic Symptoms

• Acute psychosis
• Schizophrenia
• Schizoaffective disorder
• Delusional disorder
• Schizotypal personality disorder
• Schizoid personality disorder
• Bipolar disorder with psychotic features

Evaluation

• signs or symptoms of intoxication or withdrawal
• signs of trauma
• rule out any organic causes or contributors

General ED Psychiatric Workup

• Point-of-care glucose
• CBC
• Chem 7
• LFTs
• ECG (for toxicology evaluation)
• ASA level
• Tylenol level
• Urine toxicology screen/Blood toxicology screen
• EtOH
• Urine pregnancy/beta-hCG (if female of childbearing age)
• Consider:
  • Ammonia (see Hepatic encephalopathy)
  • TSH (hypo or hyperthyroidism may mimic mental illness)
  • CXR (for Tb screen or rule-out delirium in older patient)
  • UA (for rule-out delirium in older patients)
  • Head CT (to rule-out ICH in patients with AMS)
  • Lumbar puncture (to rule-out meningitis or encephalitis)

Management

General ED Psychiatric Management

• Non-pharmacologic
  • Verbal de-escalation
  • Offer comforting items: blanket, meal, pillow, etc
  • Quiet room
  • Physical restraints (should administer medications if restraints used, as decreases restraint time)
• Pharmacologic: Goal is to calm patient without oversedation
  • No history of psychosis
    • Haloperidol 0.5mg-5mg +/- lorazepam 0.25-2mg (PO/IM/IV)
      • Consider adding benztropine 0.5-2mg or diphenhydramine 25-50mg (PO/IV/IM) (reduces dystonia or extrapyramidal reaction)
    • Consider risperidone 0.5-2mg PO or olanzapine 2.5-20mg (PO/IM/SL) or ziprasidone 10-20mg IM
  • Known or suspected underlying psychotic illness
    • Continue treatment with previous antipsychotic or
    • PO: olanzapine 5-10mg or risperidone 0.5-2mg +/- lorazepam: 0.5-2mg
    • IM: olanzapine 2.5-20mg or ziprasidone 10-20mg or
    • (PO/IM/IV) Haloperidol 0.5-5mg +/- lorazepam 0.5-2mg
      • Consider adding benztropine 0.5-2mg or diphenhydramine 25-50mg (PO/IV/IM) (reduces dystonia or extrapyramidal reaction)

Disposition

• Depends on underlying cause of psychosis
• Hospitalization for first psychotic episode, suicidal or homicidal, unable to care for self or poor support system

See Also

• Altered mental status

References

Brown, H. et al How to stabilize an acutely psychotic patient. Current Psychiatry. Dec 2012. Vol 11. No 12. p10-16
Rosen's Emergency Medicine 7th ed