CARDIOVASCULAR-RESPONSE AND ANESTHETIC RECOVERY IN ELECTROCONVULSIVE-THERAPY WITH PROPOFOL OR THIOPENTAL

Propofol provokes a slight hypotensive effect that could mitigate the cardiovascular response to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). In this st udy we compared the effects of propofol and thiopental for ECT anesthe sia in seven women (22-67 years of age). Anesthesia was induced with e ither thiopental or propofol, and with atropine and suxamethonium for each treatment. The first anesthesia was assigned to thiopental or pro pofol at random; the next anesthesia was induced with the other drug, and alternated thereafter. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pr essure (DBP), and heart rate (HR) were recorded before anesthesia, aft er anesthetic induction, and 1 and 5 min after ECT. ECT-induced increa ses in DBP and HR were less marked with propofol than with thiopental. Seizure durations were decreased with propofol compared with thiopent al.