Blood glucose before and after ECT treatments in type 2 diabetic patients

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is often performed for patients with psychiatric disorders who also have diabetes mellitus. Some research has suggested that the course of ECT treatments does not have a consistent effect on blood glucose, but little data exist to inform the clinician about the effects of individual ECT treatments on blood glucose. In this study, 18 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were treated with ECT for severe depressive illness. For each patient, a fingerstick blood glucose was routinely obtained before and approximately 20 minutes after each ECT treatment. We found a mean rise of blood glucose after each treatment of approximately 9%, similar to the mean rise of blood glucose among nondiabetic patients undergoing ECT found in a previous study. There were no cases of clinically significant rise or fall in blood glucose. We provide recommendations for management of diabetics during ECT.