title: Somatic symptom disorder treated with electroconvulsive therapy.
abstract: Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is a challenging condition to treat with chronic pain, a common and disabling symptom. We present a patient who received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for SSD with significant improvement in pain and gastrointestinal symptoms. We also present a brief literature review of similar cases treated with ECT. Preliminary evidence suggests that ECT should be considered for treatment of SSD comorbid with major depressive disorder, when standard treatments fail. Further research is needed to clarify whether ECT can be used for SSD without associated depression.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA.|Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borisovskaya
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Jay Alan
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Augsburger
mesh_terms: D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000071896:Medically Unexplained Symptoms; D008875:Middle Aged; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: chronic pain; electroconvulsive therapy; somatic symptom disorder