Dopaminergic drugs have been widely used over the last decades for the treatment of restless legs syndrome (RLS)/Willis-Ekbom disease (WED). While the majority of studies show an initial improvement in symptoms, longer studies and clinical experience show that either treatment efficacy decreases with time, and/or augmentation develops: dopaminergic augmentation has been reported to be the main reason for treatment discontinuation and treatment failure in RLS/WED.

The current review discusses the main reasons for treatment failure in RLS/WED and outlines the most recent expert-based strategies to prevent and manage it.

The main strategy for preventing augmentation is to consider non-dopaminergic medications such as α2δ ligands for initial RLS/WED treatment; these effective drugs have been shown to have little risk of augmentation. Alternatively, should dopaminergic drugs be elected as initial treatment, then the daily dose should be kept low and not exceed maximum recommended doses, however, it should be kept in mind that even low dose dopaminergics can cause augmentation. Patients with low iron stores should be given appropriate iron supplementation. Daily treatment should start only when symptoms significantly impact quality of life in terms of frequency and severity; while intermittent treatment might be considered in intermediate cases.

Treatment of existing augmentation should be initiated, where possible, with the elimination/correction of extrinsic exacerbating factors (iron levels, antidepressants, antihistamines, etc.). In cases of mild augmentation, dopamine agonist therapy can continue by dividing or advancing the dose, or increasing the dose if there are breakthrough nighttime symptoms. Alternatively, the patient can be switched to an α2δ ligand or rotigotine. For severe augmentation, the patient can be switched to an α2δ ligand or rotigotine, noting that rotigotine may produce augmentation at higher doses with long-term use. In more severe cases of augmentation an opioid may be considered, bypassing α2δ ligands and rotigotine.