Acute-withdrawal restless legs syndrome following abrupt cessation of short-term tramadol.
We report a young man who had received tramadol for pain control and experienced an uncomfortable sensation in both legs immediately after tramadol withdrawal that worsened at rest and at night, and which could be relieved only by moving the legs. He suffered from insomnia and paced up and down in his house every night. Readministration of tramadol dramatically resolved his symptoms of restless legs syndrome (RLS), but they reappeared after tramadol withdrawal. Tramadol was therefore replaced with ropinirole, which was discontinued after several weeks, and there was no recurrence of his RLS symptoms. This patient appeared to have developed tramadol-withdrawal-induced RLS, and this case report emphasizes the importance of monitoring for withdrawal-type symptoms like RLS when tramadol intake is being stopped.
Department of Psychiatry, Ilsan Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Goyang, Republic of Korea.
Young-Min
YM
Park
Department of Internal Medicine, Ilsan Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Goyang, Republic of Korea.
Hye Kyeong
HK
Park
Department of Psychiatry, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Leen
L
Kim
Department of Psychiatry, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Heon-Jeong
HJ
Lee
Department of Psychiatry, Gachon University School of Medicine, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
Seung-Gul
SG
Kang
Adverse effect; Restless legs syndrome; Tramadol; Withdrawal symptoms