The Practice of Electroconvulsive Therapy

Two decades of advances related to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) prompted the American Psychiatric Association Task Force on Electroconvulsive Therapy to update the recommendations for its use. This volume is the result of that work.

This third edition of The Practice of Electroconvulsive Therapy—the first since 2001—captures the body of knowledge on the safety, efficacy, and practice of ECT accumulated over the past 20 years, including more than 1,100 new literature citations. New features of this book include

• Chapters on detecting and managing adverse effects, including cognitive side effects, and assessing treatment outcomes to support measurement-based care• A discussion of approaches to optimize response and reduce relapse, including use of maintenance ECT, and guidance for management of patients not responding to an acute ECT course• An overview of the 2018 United States Food and Drug Administration's reclassification of ECT devices and its implications for clinical practice• A chapter on other neuromodulation techniques, including transcranial magnetic stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation, and emerging neuromodulation approaches

Like its predecessors, this edition provides comprehensive information on staffing, assessment, and preparation for ECT; informed consent; anesthestic management; stimulus electrode placement; electrical stimulus parameters and dosing; seizure monitoring; and much more. The use of ECT in special circumstances—including in patients with catatonia, in children and adolescents, and during pregnancy—is also discussed.

With detailed information on concurrent medications and medical comorbidities that may require modifications to treatment, as well as indications for the use of ECT, this book is an indispensable guide to state-of-the-art ECT practice.