The clinical use of anticholinergic drugs as treatment for extrapyramidal side effects of neuroleptic drugs.

The clinician using neuroleptic drugs for the treatment of psychotic patients must face a number of questions regarding whether and how to use anticholinergic drugs when extrapyramidal side effects appear. This article explores some of these questions, suggests how they might best be answered, reviews the studies which address the questions, and notes some of the deficiencies in the available data base. Strategies for anticholinergic drug use, given the limited information available, are offered.