title: Effectiveness of sodium thiopentone, propofol, and etomidate as an ideal intravenous anesthetic agent for modified electroconvulsive therapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a well-established psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in patients for therapeutic effects. ECT can produce severe disturbances in the cardiovascular system and a marked increase in cerebral blood flow and intracranial pressure. These cardiovascular changes may be altered using various anesthetic drugs.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was undertaken to compare the effects of intravenous (IV) sodium thiopentone, propofol, and etomidate, used as IV anesthetic agents in modified ECT as regards, induction time and quality of anesthesia, alteration of hemodynamics, seizure duration, and recovery time.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 90 patients in the age group of 16-60 years of either sex, who had to undergo ECT therapy were divided randomly into three equal groups. Group A received propofol 1% - 1.5 mg/Kg, Group B received etomidate - 0.2 mg/Kg, and Group C received thiopentone 2.5% - 5 mg/Kg. All the patients were monitored for changes in heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and oxygen saturation at basal, after induction and 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 5 min, 10 min, 20 min, and 30 min following ECT. Quality of anesthesia, seizure duration, and recovery times were also recorded.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that propofol had the advantage of smooth induction, stable hemodynamic parameters and rapid recovery as compared to etomidate and thiopentone. Thiopentone had the advantage over propofol of having longer seizure duration at the cost of a relatively prolonged recovery period. Etomidate had a definite advantage of longer seizure duration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Government Medical College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: Altaf Hussain
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Mir
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: Nida Farooq
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Government Medical College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: Mehraj Ud
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Din
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: Shabir Ahmad
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Langoo
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Government Medical College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: Fayaz Ahmad
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Reshi
keywords: Cardiovascular effects; electro-convulsive therapy; etomidate; propofol; sodium thiopentone