The assessment of nausea and vomiting in patients following electroconvulsive therapy

Nausea and vomiting is one of the side effects of Electroconvulsive therapy. Nausea and vomiting following ECT varies from 1 to 23 percent in different studies. Materias and

621 patients 18 to 60 years old under 1 till 6 Electroconvulsive therapy sessions were enrolled in this study during 3 months. After induction of general anesthesia، ECT was performed with bilateral electrode placement at the bifrontotemporal area. Seizure duration based on EEG monitoring was recorded by supervision of a psychiatrist. Demographic data، type of psychiatric disorder and treatments session were recorded. The patient was questioned about nausea and vomiting in 0 – 2 – 6 hours after treatment.

2. 73% (n=17) of patients receiving ECT had nausea. No vomiting was seen after ECT. In 70. 6% of patients with nausea (n=12)، it was mild، in 23. 5% (n=4) it was severe، and 5. 9% (n=1) had moderate nausea. There was a statistically significant relationship between the incidence of nausea and gender of the patients (p=0. 039). The female gender has a predictive role in the incidence of nausea after electroconvulsive therapy (p=0. 002)

Nausea and vomiting is an uncommon complication for ECT. The only variable significantly associated with nausea following ECT is the gender of the patient.