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Hazards

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Possible major hazards include:

  • hazards associated with the anaesthetic
  • cardiovascular abnormalities - cardiac arrhythmias
  • injury to tongue, teeth, bones - less now that muscle relaxants are used (1)
  • subdural haematoma (2)
  • loss of memory:
    • retrograde and anterograde amnesia occur acutely though many patients are unaware of it
    • patients may continue to complain of memory loss for months - there is little evidence to support this although depression itself impairs memory

Possible minor hazards include:

  • if female - possible amenorrhoea
  • headaches
  • burns from electrodes
  • confusion transient resolves within hours

Based on the number of treatments given, it was estimated the mortality rate associated with ECT as less than 1 death per 73,440 treatments (1). The most common reported adverse events related to ECT were injury to the mouth (including dental and tongue injury).

In a retrospective cohort study (n=10,016, Ontario), there was no clinically significant increase in risk for serious medical events with ECT (0.25 vs. 0.33/person/year in exposed vs. unexposed group; HR 0.78; 95% CI 0.61-1.00) and risk of suicide was significantly reduced (p<0.03) (3)

Reference:


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