Benztropine for the treatment of intractable hiccups: New indication for an old drug?

Intractable hiccups interfere with eating and sleeping, and are exhausting and distressing to patients. As a result, patients with hiccups periodically present to the emergency department (ED) to request therapy. Although many treatments have been suggested, hiccups may prove difficult to treat. This report describes a patient who presented to the ED with prolonged hiccups that were resistant to conventional treatments. He responded dramatically to one dose of benztropine, a commonly used medication with few side effects. A Medline search revealed no previous articles discussing the use of benztropine for refractory hiccups.