Two rTMS devices have been purchased for a pilot operation in Sunderbyn and Piteå, according to Region Norrbotten Nyheter. The target group is outpatient patients for whom medication has not had sufficient effect, said unit manager Göran Nilsson. In some cases, treatment can also be started while the patient is hospitalized. Four people will have the competence to perform the treatment, including assistant nurse Sara Holmberg, while chief physician Sofia Oja primarily decides which patients receive it.
Compared to ECT, rTMS is milder; the patient does not need to be sedated and can go home immediately afterward, possibly with a mild headache but no other side effects. Magnetic stimulation is considered a more long-lasting alternative to the nasal spray also given to adults with depression, according to Nilsson. The effect lasts several months. Evaluations from the USA, where the method has been used for a long time, are good, the region reported. The northernmost machines previously existed in Skellefteå, which has long experience with magnetic stimulation. Several other initiatives to strengthen psychiatry in Norrbotten have been started, including SPOT teams, keeping all available inpatient beds open, planning a new forensic psychiatry building, starting a psychology program at Luleå University of Technology, strengthening collaboration with patient organizations, and developing child and adolescent psychiatry.