Child and adolescent electroconvulsive therapy: a case report

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a controversial treatment modality that is only rarely performed on children and adolescents. There is a marked paucity of published data relating to the indications, use, clinical outcome and complications of ECT in this age group. The ethical and moral issues surrounding the use and in particular the research of ECT in this group of patients makes controlled data very difficult to come by. The following case report and review of the literature will address some of these issues.