Sialorrhea - therapeutic drug options

Abstract

Objective: To review the efficacy and safety of various drug treatments for sialorrhea. Pharmacotherapy for drug-induced sialorrhea is not addressed.

Data sources: Clinical studies were identified using PubMed (1966-October 2001). Key search terms included sialorrhea and drug therapy.

Data synthesis: Sialorrhea is a social and physical detriment to patients. Drug treatment, although not necessarily the treatment of choice for all patients, can offer some symptom relief.

Conclusions: Literature has documented that benztropine, glycopyrrolate, and scopolamine can reduce the incidence of sialorrhea. Although the literature evaluating the therapeutic options has limitations (e.g., small sample size, inconsistent outcome measurements), glycopyrrolate may have an advantage over the other agents due to fewer adverse effects.