2825 – Treatment protocols in hospitalized bipolar patients

Introduction In the treatment of bipolar disorder, mood stabilizers (MS), antipsychotics (AP), antidepressants (AD) and anxiolytics can be used according to the type and severity of the episode. Aim The frequency of somatic and pharmacological treatments in hospitalized bipolar patients were investigated in this study. Methods In this study the data of 108 bipolar type I patients who were admitted to psychiatry clinic of a university hospital due to manic episode between 2007–2009 were examined. Results The rate of the treatments for mania was %6.6 for MS, %88.8 for MS + AP and %4.4 for AP. For depressive episode it was %33.3 for MS+AD, %38.8 for MS+AP, %38.8 for MS+AD+AP. Lithium (55.5%) and valproic acid (42.5%) were the most preferred MS drugs. Average dose was 1330 ± 43.2 for lithium and 1118 ± 27.9 mg / day for valproic acid. Most frequently (46.2%) preferred antipsychotics was Olanzapine. Average dose was 16.1 ± 0.8 mg / day. 12.9% of the patients had received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) at an average of 9.7 ± 5.2 sequences. Conclusions Lithium treatment in bipolar disorder seems to be first choice for the treatment and prevention of acute episodes. There is an increase in the using of the atypical antipsychotics as mood stabilizers. ECT may be an effective method for patients who do not respond to medications. Considering the diagnosis of patients hospitalized in our clinic, drug selection and treatment modalities were consistent with treatment guidelines.