Objective: This paper reviews the current knowledge of somatic treatment in psychiatry, with a focus on treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders.
Method: A computerized search of the literature was conducted on Medline using the words "electroconvulsive therapy", "transcranial magnetic stimulation", "vagus nerve stimulation", "deep brain stimulation" and "magnetic seizure therapy". References from each paper were also screened.
Results: The development of new non-pharmacological psychiatric interventions in the past decades has renewed the clinical and research interest in somatic therapies. Although electroconvulsive therapy remains the only somatic treatment with undisputed efficacy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, magnetic seizure therapy, vagus nerve stimulation and deep brain stimulation all offer potential as novel means of psychiatric treatment.
Conclusions: New treatment modalities still have an insufficient body of data. Notwithstanding, biological strategies continue to hold promise as a safer and more effective approach to psychiatric treatment.