Psychogenic hiccups in an older adult: A case report and literature review

Abstract

Hiccups are typically benign and self-limiting. However, persistent or intractable hiccups can be debilitating, and may indicate the presence of an underlying physiological or psychological disorder. A 63-year-old man presented to the behavioral medicine clinic at a tertiary care hospital in Muscat, Oman, with a 4-year history of intractable hiccups. After exclusion of all organic causes of intractable hiccups, a diagnosis of psychogenic hiccups was made. Psychogenic hiccups are very rare, and only seven case series and reports have been published to date, according to PubMed and Google Scholar. This report includes a comprehensive review of the literature on all reported cases of psychogenic hiccups published to date, according to these two databases, to thoroughly investigate the effectiveness of various therapies for this condition. Psychogenic hiccups are very rare, and diagnosis should be made after exclusion of organic causes. Management can be challenging because of the lack of evidence-based interventions.