The effect of electroconvulsive therapy treatments on blood sugar in nondiabetic patients

There are conflicting data in the literature about the effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on blood sugar. In general, glycemic control and insulin requirements show no changes over a course of treatments, although there is interindividual variation. What is understudied is the acute effect of single ECT treatments on blood sugar in the post-ictal time period. To shed more light on this issue, we conducted a simple study of blood sugar assessed by fingerstick before and 20 minutes after ECT treatments in 33 nondiabetic patients. There was a small though statistically significant rise of 9 mg/dL in blood glucose after ECT treatments, without effect of age or gender. We conclude that ECT does not have a clinically significant effect on blood sugar in non-diabetic patients.