Safety of electroconvulsive therapy after subdural haemorrhage

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is regarded as safe and effective with no absolute contraindications for its use [1]. Caution is warranted where there is raised intracranial pressure, a space-occupying lesion, unstable blood pressure, recent myocardial infarction, recent cerebrovascular accident or the presence of a skull defect [2]. Although there are increasing reports of ECT being used effectively for patients with head injuries [3] and even subdural haematoma [4,5], there have also been reports of subdural haematoma resulting from ECT [6]. We wish to present a case that illustrates that bilateral ECT can be used to effectively treat depression following the acute treatment of a subdural haematoma.