Can Priapism Occur as an Idiosyncratic Reaction to Risperidone?

Priapism can be associated with sickle cell anemia, perineal trauma, leukemia, and other neoplasms (1,2). It can also be associated with the use of systemic or intracorporeal vasoactive agents and antidepressants, antipsychotics, antihypertensives, and recreational drugs (4). Although typical antipsychotics are thought to be related to priapism, there are some case reports on the relationship between atypical antipsychotics (e.g., risperidone, clozapine, ziprasidone, quetiapine, olanzapine, and aripiprazole) and priapism 5,6,7,8,9,10). In the literature, priapism has been been associated with risperidone administered at any stage of treatment and in different doses, alone or in combination with psychotropic drugs, and with long-acting injectable risperidone (2,11,12,13,14).