A Case of Famotidine-associated Delirium

Lee, Kang Moon; Kim, Sang Woo; Lee, Dong Soo; Song, Ho Jin; Yang, Young Sang; Chae, Hiun Seok; Ahn, Byung Min; Chung, In Sik; Park, Doo Ho

Abstract

The use of histamine (H2)-receptor blockers has been associated with central nervous system (CNS) toxicities manifesting as delirium, mental confusion, dizziness, and hallucination. Elderly patients with renal or hepatic dysfunction are more susceptible to these adverse reactions. Most of these reactions have been reported with both cimetidine and ranitidine. Famotidine, one of H2 blockers, has been shown to be effective in improving symptoms and healing gastrointestinal lesions. Since 1986, an estimated 18.8 million worldwide patients have been treated with famotidine, but CNS adverse reactions associated with famotidine have been reported very rarely. The authors report a case of famotidine-associated delirium in an elderly patient with mild renal insufficiency, which was cleared completely after stopping the administration of famotidine.