Pretreatment With Ibuprofen to Prevent Electroconvulsive Therapy–Induced Headache
Marianna Leung, BScPharm, BCPP; Yitzchak Hollander, MD, FRCPC; and Glen R. Brown, PharmD, BCPS, FCSHP
J Clin Psychiatry 2003;64(5):551-553
© Copyright 2018 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.
To view this item, select one of the options below.
-
-
Purchase This PDF for $40.00
If you are not a paid subscriber, you may purchase the PDF.
(You'll need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
-
Subscribe
Receive immediate full-text access to JCP. You can subscribe to JCP online-only ($86) or print + online ($156 individual).
With your subscription, receive a free PDF collection of the NCDEU Festschrift articles. Hurry! This offer ends December 31, 2011.
-
-
Activate
If you are a paid subscriber to JCP and do not yet have a username and password, activate your subscription now.
-
Sign in
As a paid subscriber who has activated your subscription, you have access to the HTML and PDF versions of this item.
-
Click here to login.
-
Did you forget your password?
Still can't log in? Contact the Circulation Department at 1-800-489-1001 x4 or send email
Background: Although electroconvulsive therapy
(ECT) has been widely recognized as an effective treatment for
severe depression and various other psychiatric illnesses,
adverse effects have been frequently reported, especially a high
incidence of headache. Analgesics, such as acetaminophen,
narcotics, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), are
commonly used to treat ECT-induced headache. The objective of
this study was to determine whether pretreatment with ibuprofen
would prevent the onset or decrease the severity of headache that
occurs after ECT.
Method: All inpatients on the psychiatric units
who required ECT treatment were asked to participate in the
study. Thirty-four patients were randomly assigned to receive
either ibuprofen, 600 mg, or placebo orally 90 minutes prior to
the initial ECT session, with the alternate treatment given for
the second ECT treatment. Patients were asked to complete a
questionnaire prior to and after the first 2 ECT treatments
regarding the pattern, severity, and onset of headache. Severity
of the headache was measured on a visual analogue scale (VAS).
Results: Ten patients experienced headache in
neither treatment arm, while 7 patients experienced headache in
both treatment arms. Eleven patients experienced headache with
placebo but not with ibuprofen, while 2 patients experienced
headache with ibuprofen but not with placebo. Ibuprofen was
significantly more effective than placebo in preventing the onset
of headache post-ECT (p = .022). The mean ± SD VAS headache
scores were 1.49 ± 1.54 and 0.54 ± 0.91 in the placebo and
ibuprofen arms, respectively. Ibuprofen was significantly more
effective than placebo in reducing the severity of ECT-induced
headache (p = .007).
Conclusion: Ibuprofen premedication reduced the
frequency and severity of headache post-ECT and should be
considered for appropriate patients who suffer from ECT-induced
headache.