Tic disorder possibly related to the duration of action of short-acting methylphenidate in a seven-year-old child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and intellectual disability

Abstract

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is known to be seen more frequently in children diagnosed with intellectual disability than in children with normal development. Methylphenidate is a psychostimulant drug that is widely used in the treatment of ADHD. Recent randomized studies have reported that the use of methylphenidate is not associated with new onset or worsening of tics. However, studies on the effects of methylphenidate use in children with mental retardation are limited. The case is here presented of a 7-year-old male patient with borderline intellectual disability, who developed new-onset tics most likely due to methylphenidate treatment and whose tics subsided when the methylphenidate was discontinued and its effects subsided.