Long-acting depot injections of antipsychotics can be considered for maintenance therapy and to prevent relapse in patients who have poor adherence to regular oral antipsychotics. Depot antipsychotics are administered by deep intramuscular injection at intervals of 1 to 4 weeks. 

Typical depot antipsychotics are associated with a greater incidence of extrapyramidal side effects than oral preparations. Atypical depot antipsychotics such as olanzapine and risperidone less frequently cause extrapyramidal side effects.

There are a number of typical and atypical depot preparations that are currently available:

• Flupentixol decanoate
• Fluphenazine decanoate
• Haloperidol
• Olanzapine embonate
• Paliperidone
• Pipotiazine palmitate
• Risperidone
• Zuclopenthixol decanoate