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Audit of a recently introduced stimulus dosing policy in an electroconvulsive therapy clinic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

G. Shaikh ,
R. Ireland ,
M. McBreen  and
R. Ramana
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Abstract

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Aims and method

To audit the clinical practice of seizure threshold estimation and subsequent stimulus dose adjustment in the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) clinic. Case notes of patients who had ECT over a six-month period were audited. Results were discussed at an audit meeting and guidelines and training modified appropriately prior to the second cycle of the audit.

Results

Initial dose titration was poor in the first period, but improved in the second. The majority of patients were insufficiently stimulated after missed seizures in both periods and stimulus doses were not being reduced following prolonged seizures.

Clinical implications

The audit identified the need for continuing supervision of trainees in addition to clear training and guidelines.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 23 , Issue 9: The Journal of Trends in Psychiatric Practice , September 1999 , pp. 541 - 543
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

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