CASE REPORT article

Front. Psychiatry

Sec. Neurostimulation

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1563519

This article is part of the Research TopicElectroconvulsive therapy: from mechanisms to clinical practiceView all 7 articles

Electroconvulsive Therapy in a Patient with an Implanted Sacral Neurostimulator: A Case Report on Safe Administration and Short-term Outcomes

Provisionally accepted
Jeet Janak PatelJeet Janak Patel1*Marcela Carolina Carbajal TamezMarcela Carolina Carbajal Tamez1Cristina AbrahamCristina Abraham1William BaumgartnerWilliam Baumgartner2Edison LeungEdison Leung1João QuevedoJoão Quevedo1
  • 1University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, United States
  • 2Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, United States

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We present a case of a 35-year-old patient with treatment-resistant depression and an implanted sacral neurostimulator for overactive bladder (OAB). The patient experienced an exacerbation of depression with suicidal ideation and failed multiple medication trials. Due to her significant history of adverse medication reactions and the severity of her condition, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was selected as a treatment option despite concerns about the safety of administering ECT with a sacral neurostimulator. To minimize potential risks, the device was placed in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) mode during each ECT session, successfully avoiding electrical interference. She underwent three ECT sessions, which resulted in significant improvement in depressive symptoms and resolution of suicidal ideation without adverse effects on the device's integrity or OAB symptoms. This case highlights the feasibility and safety of ECT in patients with implanted sacral neurostimulators, emphasizing the importance of precautionary measures and individualized patient assessment. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effects of ECT on such devices and their impact on OAB.

Keywords: ECT (electroconvulsive therapy), Overactive bladder (OAB), Implanted Medical Devices (IMD), Safety, case report

Received: 20 Jan 2025; Accepted: 23 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Patel, Carbajal Tamez, Abraham, Baumgartner, Leung and Quevedo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Jeet Janak Patel, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, United States

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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