title: Propofol and methohexital as anesthetic agents for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT): a comparison of seizure-quality measures and vital signs.
abstract: In a randomized crossover study, the influence of the anesthetics methohexital and propofol on EEG seizure parameters, seizure-quality measures, vital signs, and oxygen saturation (SpO2) and end-tidal carbon dioxide tension (ETCO2) was investigated; 146 treatments of 31 patients were analyzed. Significant differences were observed between agents for mean postictal pulse and blood pressure values. With methohexital, there was a clear postictal increase of mean blood pressure from 126/78 mm Hg to 161/102 mm Hg, whereas there was no increase with propofol (p = 0.00), and with methohexital, a postictal increase of the mean pulse rate from 81 to 90 beats/min and a slight decrease with propofol (79 to 78 beats/min). There were no differences in the SpO2 and ETCO2. The mean seizure duration for unilateral treatments was significantly longer with methohexital (52.7 s) compared with propofol (34.1 s; p = 0.000), but there was no difference for the seizure-quality measures: postictal suppression index (propofol 79.7%, methohexital 77.4%) and mean integrated amplitude (30.2/31.8) were the same for both anesthetic agents. The results show that differences in seizure duration are unrelated to seizure-quality measures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Landesnervenklinik Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Geretsegger
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rochowanski
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kartnig
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Unterrainer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000771:Anesthesia, Intravenous; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000187:drug effects*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008723:Methohexital; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D015742:Propofol; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000628:therapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D008723:Methohexital; D010100:Oxygen; D015742:Propofol