Background: Within the last decade therapeutic approaches to tic disorders are reflected in many new studies. The advent of novel neuroleptics and the more sophisticated behavioural therapeutic techniques may give new hope to children and adolescents with tic disorders.
Objective: Hence, the progress in the field should be explored to find out the state of the art.
Method: A critical review of the empirically based literature and practical experience.
Results: Worldwide, drug treatment with clonidine and (from the group of novel antipsychotics) risperidone show the broadest empirical basis while in Europe benzamides have a good empirical clinical background. Behaviour therapy presents more and more helpful empirical data.
Conclusions: Risperidone may become the first-line drug in treatment of tic disorders and behaviour therapy might be increasingly used within a multimodal treatment program.