The effectiveness of risperidone in the treatment of three children with feeding disorders

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Rehabilitation
• Child Psychiatry
• Clinical Nutrition

Background:

• Children with extensive early childhood medical histories, particularly gastrointestinal interventions, often experience persistent feeding problems.
• Failure-to-thrive (FTT) and comorbid anxiety/mood symptoms complicate severe feeding disorders in these children.
• Traditional behavioral feeding therapies may be insufficient for complex cases.

Observation:

• A case series involving 3 preadolescent children (ages 7-9) with severe feeding disorders, FTT, and psychiatric comorbidities was conducted.
• These children received inpatient multidisciplinary treatment including behavioral and psychopharmacologic interventions.
• Risperidone was added to the treatment regimen for all three patients.

Findings:

• The addition of risperidone led to significant increases in oral intake and accelerated weight gain across the patient group.
• Two out of three children were able to discontinue assistive feeding interventions.
• One patient experienced a 74% reduction in enteral nutritional support.

Implications:

• Risperidone shows potential as a safe and effective adjunctive treatment for pediatric feeding disorders with complex medical and psychiatric profiles.
• This approach may be beneficial when standard behavioral feeding therapy yields limited success.
• Further research into risperidone's role in pediatric feeding rehabilitation is warranted.