Facial Edema that Develops with Olanzapine

Abstract

Olanzapine is an atypical antipsychotic drug that has been approved for use in the treatment of primarily schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and various other psychiatric disorders. Olanzapine use could cause peripheral edema in 3% of the patients. There are cases in the literature where a peripheral edema occurred after olanzapine mono-therapy. In these cases, edema occurred mostly in peripheral mode, in the lower extremities such as wrists, dorsum of the feet and in the limbs up to knees. However, there are only rare cases that reported edema in the facial region. This article will scrutinize a female case where a dense edema localized in the facial region restricting the movement of facial muscles after olanzapine treatment.