Psychiatria pre prax 3/2013

Adjuvant trazodone in the treatment sexual dysfunctions of escitalopram in the therapy of major depressive disorder

The aim of this work was to verify the hypothesis that the addition of adjuvant trazodone (50–150 mg) will result in mitigation or the resolving of sexual dysfunctions (SD) that have incurred during the treatment of depression with escitalopram (10 mg). 20 patients were treated, 14 underwent a complete 3 months observation, 6 patients did not finish the complete observation with following gradual drop outs due to the ineffectiveness and undesired side effects of the trazodone. In the studied sample of 20 patients, 24 sexual dysfunctions have occurred after the initiation of escitalopram (4 patients were simultaneously presented with two SD). After 3 months of observation after the initiation of trazodone there was a partial retreat in 9 (47.5%) of sexual dysfunctions from the original status, a complete resolution of SD in 9 (47.5%) and one case of SD there was no significant change (5%). Therefore in the overall scale there was a significant decrease in the intensity of SD compared to the state before the initiation of trazodone – t=9.13 *** (p<0.0001). The average intensity of the SD after three months of use of trazodone was 0.68 (SD=0.75).

Keywords: depressive disorder, sexual dysfunctions, escitalopram, trazodon.