Open AccessUse of electroconvulsive therapy in an adolescent with mental retardation and catatonia
Author(s) -
Aseem Mehra,
Susanta Kumar Padhy
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of pediatric neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.247
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 1998-3948
pISSN - 1817-1745
DOI - 10.4103/jpn.jpn_112_18
Subject(s) - catatonia , electroconvulsive therapy , medicine , treatment modality , modalities , psychiatry , pediatrics , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , surgery , social science , sociology
Despite the availability of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and being one of the safest modalities of treatment, the use of ECT is still underused in patients with mental retardation with catatonia. However, the available limited literature suggests that ECT can be used safely with proper monitoring and assessment, especially in those presenting with catatonia in mental retardation. We treated a 17-year-old boy who presented to us with catatonia with mental retardation with a course of 12 ECT, with which the catatonia resolved completely. Review of the literature suggests that the occurrence of catatonia is rare in mental retardation. However, ECT can be used in a rare case with precautions.