Efficacy of clonidine transdermal patch in treatment of moderate to severe tic disorders in children

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the difference in the efficacy between clonidine transdermal patch and haloperidol tablets in the treatment of moderate to severe tic disorders in children. Methods A total of 134 children with moderate to severe tic disorders were randomly divided into clonidine group (n=70) and haloperidol group (n=64). The clonidine and haloperidol groups were treated with clonidine transdermal patch and haloperidol tablets respectively, and the treatment lasted for 8 weeks in both groups. The Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) was used to evaluate the conditions of the children before and after treatment, and the adverse events during the treatment were recorded. Results The haloperidol group had a signifcantly better treatment outcome than the clonidine group after one week of treatment (P < 0.05); the treatment outcome showed no signifcant difference between the two groups after 3, 5, and 8 weeks of treatment (P > 0.05). The clonidine group had signifcantly less reductions in the motor tics, vocal tics, and function impairment scores and total score of YGTSS than the haloperidol group after one week of treatment (P < 0.05); there were no signifcant differences in YGTSS score reductions between the two groups after 3, 5, and 8 weeks of treatment (P > 0.05). The clonidine group had a signifcantly lower overall incidence of adverse events than the haloperidol group (8% vs 37%; P < 0.01). Conclusions Clonidine transdermal patch and haloperidol are both effective in the treatment of moderate to severe tic disorders in children. The clonidine transdermal patch, despite slow action, has comparable effcacy and fewer adverse effects compared with haloperidol.