Electroconvulsive Therapy for a Patient with Suicide by Drinking Bleach During Treatment of COVID-19: A Case Report

Valiollah Hassani; Saied Amniati; Fatemeh Kashaninasab; Mohammad Niakan; Omid Moradi Moghadam; Ali Akbar Jafarian; Reza Farahmand Rad; Saloome Sehat-Kashani; Azadeh Habibi

doi:10.5812/aapm.107513

Electroconvulsive Therapy for a Patient with Suicide by Drinking Bleach During Treatment of COVID-19: A Case Report

Anesth Pain Med. 2020 Dec 8;10(6):e107513. doi: 10.5812/aapm.107513. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Authors

Valiollah Hassani¹, Saied Amniati¹, Fatemeh Kashaninasab², Mohammad Niakan³, Omid Moradi Moghadam³, Ali Akbar Jafarian¹, Reza Farahmand Rad¹, Saloome Sehat-Kashani¹, Azadeh Habibi¹

Affiliations

¹ Pain Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Mental Health Research Center, Tehran Institute of Psychiatry, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ Trauma and Injury Research Center, Critical Care Medicine Department, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was first experienced in 1938 and had been conducting without anesthesia for 30 years. In this study, the most common indication for ECT was mood disorder (major depressive disorder and bipolar I disorder). We introduce a patient with a history of COVID-19 and suicide who required emergency ECT. Electroconvulsive therapy can be life-saving in patients with suicide history or catatonic schizophrenia. Health workers are at the front line of the COVID-19 outbreak control and must follow health instructions. Aerosol-producing procedures such as suction in anesthesia for ECT may facilitate the transmission of infectious diseases such as COVID-19. When performing aerosol-producing procedures during the pandemic of novel coronavirus, every patient should be considered suspicious.

Keywords: COVID-19; Electroconvulsive Therapy; SARS-CoV-2; Suicide.

Publication types

Case Reports