Electroconvulsive therapy in a twelve-year-old boy with catatonic symptoms

Abstract

SummaryStudies Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective in the treatment of several psychiatric illnesses. Only a few studies describe the use of ECT in children and adolescents. We describe the treatment of catatonic symptoms with ECT in a twelve-year-old boy who presented with complaints of nausea, vomiting and ataxia and developed catatonic symptoms 48 hours after admission to hospital. The response to diazepam infusion was partial but recovery was complete after 12 treatments of ECT. There were no adverse effects to ECT.