Morbidity in electroconvulsive therapy

Background and objective To assess retrospectively the complications and mo rbidity of electroconvulsive therapy. Methods Complications occurring in 75 patients during 612 electroconvulsive therapy procedures under propofol anaesthesia were reviewed by data analys is. Results At least one complication occurred in 51 patients (68%) during the course of their treatment. Among these complications, 12 were potentially l ife-threatening: one patient developed angina pectoris, another aspiration pneumopathy, there were two incidences of bronchospasm, three hypoxic episo des (SpO(2) < 92% with FiO(2) = 1) and five severe episodes of laryngospasm which caused hypoxia. Twenty-five patients (33%) were confused for more th an 2 h after the electroconvulsive therapy. Confusion recurred in 10 patien ts (13%) after several sessions of electroconvulsive treatment. Six patient s had a traumatic complication, with one requiring surgery. Conclusion Our results, compared with other studies, suggest that electroco nvulsive therapy is not a low-risk procedure, with a particularly high rate of respiratory complications that may have been previously overlooked. The refore, ambulatory anaesthesia may not be appropriate on a regular basis fo r most of these patients.