ELECTROCONVULSIVE

THERAPY
TUIZA, Lejanni
UY, Rhea Andrea
 CLINICAL
GUIDELINES
UY, Rhea Andrea F.

July 28, 2021

 INFORMED CONSENT
Medical Discuss the Natural
records disorder course

Option of no Printed literature Local laws about

treatment and videotapes use of ECT
PRETREATMENT
EVALUATION
• Standard physical, neurologic, and pre-
anesthesia examinations and complete medical
history
• Urine chemistries, a chest x-ray, and an
electrocardiogram (ECG)
• A dental examination
• An x-ray of the spine
• CT / MRI
 PRETREATMENT
EVALUATION
CONCOMITANT MEDICATIONS:
• Most antidepressants except bupropion, monoamine
oxidase inhibitors, and antipsychotics are generally
acceptable.
WITHDRAWN CONTRAINDICATED
Benzodiazepines Anticonvulsant activity Lidocaine Increases seizure
threshold
Lithium Increased post-ictal Theophylline Increases duration of
delirium seizures
Prolong seizure activity
Clozapine Late-appearing seizures Reserpine Compromise
respiratory and
cardiovascular
systems
Bupropion Late-appearing seizures
 Premedications, Anesthetics,
and Muscle Relaxants
● Nothing orally for 6 hours before treatment
● Mouth checked for dentures and foreign objects
● Intravenous (IV) line
● A bite block is inserted in the mouth
● 100 percent oxygen at a rate of 5 L a minute during the procedure until
spontaneous respiration returns
● Emergency equipment for establishing an airway
 MUSCARINIC ANTICHOLINERGIC
DRUGS
● Administered before ECT
ATROPINE GLYCOPYRROLATE
○ minimize oral and
0.3 to 0.6 mg IM or SC 30 to 60 0.2 to 0.4 mg IM, IV, or SC
respiratory secretions minutes before the anesthetic
● To block bradycardias and OR
0.4 to 1.0 mg IV 2 or 3 minutes before
asystoles the anesthetic
● Indicated for patients:
MOST COMMONLY USED • Less likely to cross the blood–
○ Taking β-adrenergic receptor brain barrier
antagonists • Less likely to cause cognitive
dysfunction and nausea
○ With ventricular ectopic • Less cardiovascular protective
beats activity
 ANESTHESIA
METHOHEXITAL ETOMIDATE KETAMINE ALFENTANIL PROPOFOL
0.75 to 1.0 mg/kg IV 0.15 to 0.3 mg/kg IV 6 to 10 mg/kg IM 2 to 9 mg/kg IV 0.5 to 3.5 mg/kg
bolus
coadministered IV
with
barbiturates
MOST COMMONLY does not increase does not increase reduce the anticonvulsant
USED
the seizure the seizure seizure threshold properties
threshold threshold
• shorter duration of useful for elderly association of associated with
action patients
• lower association
psychotic an increased
with postictal symptoms with incidence of
arrhythmias emergence from nausea
anesthesia
• thiopental (usual dose 2 to 3 mg/kg IV)
 MUSCLE RELAXANTS
● Produce profound relaxation of the muscles
● Minimize the risk of bone fractures and other injuries

SUCCINYLCHOLINE TUBOCURARINE ATRACURIUM / CURARE

0.5 to 1 mg/kg as an IV 3mg IV 0.5 to 1 mg/kg IV
bolus or drip
muscle fasciculations: prevent myoclonus and known history of
rostrocaudal progression
increases in potassium pseudocholinesterase
and deficiency
muscle enzymes
problem in patients with
musculoskeletal or
cardiac disease
ELECTRODE PLACEMENT
BIFRONTOTEMPORAL ELECTRODE PLACEMENT
● more short- and long-term adverse cognitive effects
● more likely to produce delirium
● restricting the dose to a moderately suprathreshold level
BIFRONTAL CONFIGURATION
● more likely to manifest EEG seizure without a motor seizure
BIFRONTAL & ASYMMETRICAL PLACEMENTS
● high impedance of the skull and scalp
○ restricts possibilities for localization of the stimulus
D’ELIA PLACEMENT
● right unilateral ECT
● relatively better cognitive side effect profile
 ELECTRICAL STIMULUS
● seizure threshold (the level of intensity needed to produce a seizure)
● given in cycles, and each cycle contains a positive and a negative wave
○ SINE WAVE – OBSOLETE
○ BRIEF PULSE WAVEFORM
■ administers the electrical stimulus, usually in 1 to 2
■ milliseconds, at a rate of 30 to 100 pulses a second
o ULTRABRIEF PULSE
▪ 0.5 milliseconds
▪ Not as effective as brief pulse
 SEIZURE THRESHOLD
• 40 times variability in seizure thresholds
• Seizure threshold may increase 25 to 200 percent
• Higher in men than in women
• Higher in older than in younger adults
● Initiate treatment at an electrical stimulus that is thought to be below
the seizure threshold for a particular patient and then to increase this
intensity by 100 percent for unilateral placement and by 50 percent for
bilateral placement until the seizure threshold is reached.
 INDUCED SEIZURES
● A brief muscular contractions -> strongest in a patient’s jaw and facial
muscles
● FIRST BEHAVIORAL SIGN of the seizure: PLANTAR EXTENSION
○ lasts 10 to 20 seconds
○ marks the tonic phase
● Followed by rhythmic contractions
○ decrease in frequency and finally disappear
● The tonic phase is marked by high-frequency, sharp EEG activity
● During the clonic phase, bursts of polyspike activity coincide with the
muscular contractions
 MONITORING SEIZURES
● Tonic–clonic movements
● Electrophysiologic evidence of seizure activity from the EEG or
electromyogram (EMG)
● Seizures with unilateral ECT are asymmetrical, with higher ictal EEG
amplitudes over the stimulated hemisphere
● For a seizure to be effective in the course of ECT, it should
last at least 25 seconds.
 FAILURE TO INDUCE
SEIZURES
● up to 4 attempts at seizure induction can be tried during a course of treatment
● onset of seizure activity is sometimes delayed as long as 20 to 40 seconds after the stimulus
administration
● If a stimulus fails to result in a seizure, the contact between the electrodes and the skin
should be checked, and the intensity of the stimulus should be increased by 25 to 100
percent.
● Additional procedures to lower the seizure threshold include
hyperventilation and administration of 500 to 2,000 mg IV of caffeine
sodium benzoate 5 to 10 minutes before the stimulus.
 PROLONGED & TARDIVE
SEIZURES
● Prolonged seizures (seizures lasting more than 180 seconds)
● Prolonged seizures and status epilepticus can be terminated either with additional
doses of the barbiturate anesthetic agent or with IV diazepam (5 to 10 mg),
accompanied by intubation
● Tardive seizures—that is, additional seizures appearing sometime after the ECT
treatment
○ develop in patients with preexisting seizure disorders
 NUMBER & SPACING OF
TREATMENTS
● Two to three times a week;
○ twice-weekly treatments are associated with less memory
impairment than thrice-weekly treatments
● Major depressive disorder: 6 to 12 treatments (up to 20 sessions possible);
● Manic episodes: 8 to 20 treatments;
● Schizophrenia: more than 15 treatments
● Catatonia and delirium: as few as 1 to 4 treatments
● Should continue until maximal therapeutic response
● Point of maximal improvement : patient fails to continue to improve after two consecutive
treatments.
● If a patient is not improving after 6 to 10 sessions, bilateral placement and high-density
treatment (three times the seizure threshold) should be attempted before ECT is abandoned
 MULTIPLE MONITORED ECT
● Multiple ECT stimuli during a single session, most commonly two bilateral stimuli
within 2 minutes
● Severely ill patients and those at exceptionally high risk from the anesthetic
procedures
● Most frequent occurrences of serious cognitive adverse effects
 MAINTENANCE TREATMENT
● Short-term course of ECT induces remission in symptoms
● Effective relapse prevention treatments
● INDICATIONS FOR MAINTENANCE ECT:
○ Rapid relapse after initial ECT
○ Severe symptoms
○ Psychotic symptoms
○ Inability to tolerate medications
ADVERSE
EFFECTS
● no absolute contraindications
● PREGNANCY: fetal monitoring is generally considered unnecessary unless the
pregnancy is high risk
● Patients with space-occupying central nervous system lesions are at increased risk for
edema and brain herniation after ECT
○ Small: pretreatment with dexamethasone
○ Hypertension is controlled during the seizure
● Patients who have increased intracerebral pressure or are at risk for cerebral
bleeding
○ lessened by control of the patient’s blood pressure
• Patients with recent myocardial infarctions: HIGH RISK GROUP
○ risk is greatly diminished 2 weeks after the myocardial infarction
○ further reduced 3 months after the infarction.
• Patients with HTN should be stabilized on their antihypertensive medications before
ECT is administered
○ Propranolol and sublingual nitroglycerin during treatment
MORTALITY
• 0.002 percent per treatment and 0.01 percent for each
patient
• ECT death is usually from cardiovascular complications
 CNS EFFECTS
● Headache, confusion, and delirium
● Marked confusion within 30 minutes of the seizure
○ Can be treated with barbiturates and benzodiazepines
● Delirium: most pronounced after the first few treatments and in
patients who receive bilateral ECT
○ Clears within days or a few weeks
 MEMORY
• most significant concern: ECT and memory loss
• almost all patients are back to their cognitive baselines after 6
months
• The degree of cognitive impairment during treatment and the time it
takes to return to baseline
• amount of electrical stimulation used during treatment
• Neurologists and epileptologists generally agree that seizures that last
less than 30 minutes do not cause permanent neuronal damage
OTHER ADVERSE EFFECTS
● Fractures
● Broken teeth
● Back pain
● Muscle soreness
● Nausea, vomiting, headaches
THANK YOU