ABSTRACT
Anesthesists often ask for withdrawal of psychotropic treatment a few days before surgery. Usually they do not differentiate among the various classes of psychotropic drugs. Some drugs, including MAO inhibitors and reserpine-like agents, can induce or precipitate accidents; however, this does not occur with other types of antidepressants, neuroleptics and minor tranquilizers. The authors review the psychiatric risks related to such withdrawals; these risks are to be considered. They report that in 8,210 ECT under general anesthesia (among which 5,688 were done without psychotropic withdrawal) there was no occurrence of severe accidents.
Subject(s)
Anesthesia, General , Psychotropic Drugs/administration & dosage , Anesthesia, General/adverse effects , Anesthetics , Drug Interactions , Electroconvulsive Therapy , Humans , Long-Term CareABSTRACT
During 12 years, we have effected 6,982 electroshocks with anesthesia and celocurine (N.D.) on 713 patients, i.e. 7.25% of the total hospitalized patients. 62% of them (440) were all this time under antidepressant drugs and 38% (273) were not. We observed 16 minor incidents ten (2.27%) among those under treatment and six (2.19%) among the others; of these 16 incidents, 11 led to an interruption of the treatment for safety. The association of antidepressant drugs with electroshock under anesthesia and celocurine (N.D.) does not present any real danger.
