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Objective: For patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) who do not respond to drug therapy, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is often employed as an additional treatment. The aims of the present study were to investigate to what extent an 8-day daily ECT treatment might reduce symptoms of schizophrenia among patients with TRS both in the short term (end of the treatment) and medium term, that is 4 and 12 weeks after the treatment. Methods: Fourteen patients with TRS based on DSM-5 criteria took part in the present study. ECT consisted of daily sessions for 8 consecutive days. At baseline, at the end of the intervention, and 4 and 12 weeks after study completion, trained psychiatrists assessed the patients’ disease severity (positive and negative symptoms; psychopathology) and cognitive functions. Results: Disease symptoms (positive and negative symptoms; psychopathology) became reduced from baseline to the end of the intervention and to 4 weeks after treatment. Twelve weeks after the intervention symptoms again increased. Cognitive functions decreased from baseline to the end of the study and 4 weeks after treatment. However, by 12 weeks after the intervention, cognitive functions had returned to baseline levels. Conclusion: The pattern of results suggests that an intensive 8-day daily course of ECT reduced psychiatric symptoms (positive and negative symptoms, psychopathology) in both the short and medium term among patients with TRS. The increase in symptoms between 4 and 12 weeks following intervention suggests that booster sessions of ECT could be beneficial.

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Background Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is an accepted, effective treatment to restore function, relieve pain, and improve the quality of life in patients with advanced osteoarthritis. One complication of this major surgery is impaired sleep quality. This study examines the quality of sleep in patients undergoing TKA before and after their operation. Methods All relevant records were obtained using a systematic search in three online databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane library. Out of the 177 records retrieved, only eight matched the inclusion criteria. Due to the lack of sufficient data, only four studies entered the meta-analysis. Values reported for sleep quality based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were extracted from patient records before and after surgery. A random-effect model was used to analyze the data. Results The results of the meta-analysis show a significant difference in the improvement of sleep quality after surgery at two time points of 4–6 weeks after surgery from the preoperative baseline (SMD − 0.16; 95% CI − 1.05 to 0.74; P = 0.0) and 3–6 months after surgery from the preoperative baseline (SMD − 0.92; 95% CI − 1.61 to − 0.24; P = 0.0). Conclusions The results show that TKA generally improves the patients’ sleep quality. Although some studies reported disrupted sleep quality in periods close to the surgery (especially in the early days after surgery), all studies have reported improved sleep quality in the late postoperative intervals.