Valproate Use in Children and Adolescents with Bipolar Disorder

This review aims to provide an update on valproate use in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder by summarising currently available clinical trials results. Guidelines for the treatment of type I bipolar disorder in children and adolescents, with or without psychotic features, recommend valproate, alone or in combination with an atypical antipsychotic, as a first-line treatment option; however, most randomised and open-label studies investigating valproate in paediatric populations have only evaluated a small number of participants. Therefore, the data from these studies need to be interpreted cautiously. A further complicating issue is the controversy surrounding the definition and diagnosis of bipolar disorders in this age group.