Novel psychoactive drugs (NPS) has rapidly increase in the last years in the drug market as a recreational use. Fenethylline is a theophylline, an amphetamine-like drug, having stimulant effects similar to those of other amphetamine-type derivatives. Fenethylline was used as medicament for hyperactivity disorders in children, narcolepsy and depression, but it has also been used as a drug of abuse under the common name of ‘captagon’. The purpose of this report is to review the clinical evidence for the potential of abuse of fenethylline. We propose a case report and literature review.

We conducted a systematic review of the literature with the principal database (PubMed, Enbase, PsychInfo) and we present a case report.

The effects of fenethylline is characterized by euphoria, derealization, autopsychic and somatopsychic depersonalization, hallucination, agitation and decrease of pain perception.

The primary drug market for fenethyline (as captagon) has traditionally been countries located on the Arabian Peninsula but also North Africa since 2013. To our knowledge, there is no report on the recreational use of fenethylline in literature. The clinical features of fenethylline intoxication were also similar to effects from other amphetamine-like drugs. In our case report, dissociative symptoms are the core of fenethylline intoxication. Further research is warranted to replicate our clinical and qualitative observations and, in general, quantitative studies in large samples followed-up over time are needed. Methodological limitations, clinical implications and suggestions for future research directions are considered [1,2].

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.