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Safety and Tolerability

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Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Neuropsychiatric Disorders

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Abstract

TDCS most common adverse effects are burning, tingling, itching, headache, and discomfort on the site of stimulation. These adverse effects occur in up to one-third of patients and are generally mild, short-lived, and well-tolerated. Skin redness is a common adverse effect that occurs in most patients, although skin burning is rare and often associated with repeated tDCS sessions and poor humidification of sponges. Severe adverse effects, including seizures, cardiac arrest, permanent disability and damage, have not been reported in tDCS adult trials thus so far. Regarding safety, studies indicate that the doses used clinically are much lower than necessary to induce lesions and are not associated with damage. Nonetheless, the statement that tDCS is “safe” should be tempered down considering that its adverse effects are often underreported in most studies and the risk of induction of adverse effects in special populations (e.g., hypomanic switch in depressed patients, or seizures in patients with epilepsy) has not been sufficiently investigated yet.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Center for Applied Neuromodulation, University Hospital & Service of Interdisciplinary Neuromodulation, Department and Institute of Psychiatry, Laboratory of Neurosciences (LIM 27), University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    André Brunoni

  2. School of Psychiatry, Black Dog Institute & St George Hospital, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Colleen Loo

  3. Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Center for Working Environments and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany

    Michael Nitsche M.D.

Authors
  1. André Brunoni
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  2. Colleen Loo
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  3. Michael Nitsche M.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Nitsche M.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Center for Applied Neuromodulation Department and Institute of Psychiatry Laboratory of Neurosciences (LIM-27), University Hospital and Service of Interdisciplinary Neuromodulation University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    André Brunoni

  2. Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Center for Working Environments and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany

    Michael Nitsche

  3. School of Psychiatry Black Dog Institute & St George Hospital, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Colleen Loo

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Brunoni, A., Loo, C., Nitsche, M. (2016). Safety and Tolerability. In: Brunoni, A., Nitsche, M., Loo, C. (eds) Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33967-2_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33967-2_22

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33965-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33967-2

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