Amitriptyline for post-traumatic agitation.

Agitated behavior is exhibited in up to 30% of patients recovering from a traumatic brain injury. Past treatment protocols have included proactive behavioral management and major tranquilizers. We now report the use of amitriptyline for control of agitation. For a period of over 2 years, 43 male and 15 female patients with a "recent" severe brain injury were admitted for inpatient rehabilitation and subjected to traditional structured programming for treatment of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA). In 20 patients, 18 men and 2 women, where agitation persisted sufficiently to impede rehabilitation despite initiation of structure, amitriptyline was instituted. These patients were of a comparable age (29.4 years for the agitated group versus 25.6 years for the nonagitated group), but the agitated patients had a lower median Rancho Los Amigos Hospital Level of Cognitive Functioning in a comparison to nonagitated patients (V versus VI). All patients were monitored for cognitive performance by the Orientation Group Monitoring System, and a daily account of frequency, severity and type of agitation was recorded. Within 7 days of initiation of therapy, 12 of 17 patients within PTA had dramatic decrease in agitation (5/5 patients at Rancho IV; 4/8 at Rancho V; 3/4 at Rancho VI). Two of the three patients at Rancho VII had agitation that was unresponsive to amitriptyline. The amitriptyline-responsive patients were maintained on the drug through PTA, and the Orientation Group Monitoring System scale demonstrated no impedance in cognitive recovery. Thus, amitriptyline appears most useful as an adjunct for treatment of nondirected agitation; it also has a role in reducing the severity of the directed agitation that is seen during but not after PTA.