Propranolol treatment for childhood posttraumatic stress disorder, acute type. A pilot study
R. Famularo, R. Kinscherff and T. Fenton
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
We report 11 cases of posttraumatic stress disorder. Each child had been
physically abused or sexually abused or both and presented in an agitated,
hyperaroused state. Using a B-A-B (off-on-off) medication design in a
clinical setting, the children were treated with the beta-adrenergic
antagonist propranolol. Scores on an inventory of symptoms of posttraumatic
stress disorder indicated that patients exhibited significantly fewer
symptoms while receiving medication than either before or after they
received medication.
