Emergencies in Parkinsonism

Abstract

Patients with Parkinsonism may present acutely to the ED with serious and even life-threatening conditions. Although falls are a common presentation in advanced Parkinsonism, early presentations with falls should alert the clinician that the patient might have a Parkinson syndrome other than Parkinson’s disease itself, including autonomic neuropathy causing orthostatic hypotension. Patients may present with neuroleptic malignant syndrome, acute psychosis, marked hypokinesis, freezing gait, aspiration pneumonia, dysphagia, serotonin syndrome, dopamine dysregulation syndrome and intestinal pseudo-obstruction. An inpatient admission is necessary for investigation and observation of these patients. We present a case of a patient who presented with an uncommon side effect of a common medication used for Parkinsonism.