Comparison of methohexital and propofol for electroconvulsive therapy: effects on hemodynamic responses and seizure duration.

Electroconvulsive therapy can produce severe disturbances in the cardiovascular system, most commonly a transient period of hypertension. This study was designed to determine whether propofol, in comparison with methohexital, would attenuate this hypertensive response. Fifteen patients were studied during courses of six ECT administrations, each patient receiving propofol or methohexital on different occasions. Arterial pressure, heart rate, and cardiac rhythm were recorded. The induction doses were 1.08 +/- 0.03 mg.kg-1 of methohexital, and 1.60 +/- 0.04 mg.kg-1 of propofol. Systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, and heart rate were consistently lower following propofol than methohexital (P less than 0.005). The mean maximum increase over baseline systolic pressure was 2.1 +/- 2.9 mmHg with propofol, and 26.7 +/- 4.5 mmHg with methohexital (P less than 0.001). Cardiac rhythm abnormalities were infrequent, and their incidence did not differ significantly between the two induction agents (P greater than 0.3). The duration of seizures, as measured clinically, was reduced with propofol (17.9 +/- 2.5 s) in comparison with methohexital (30.9 +/- 2.8 s) (P less than 0.001). Recovery times were similar for the two agents. Since the role of seizure duration in the therapeutic efficacy of ECT remains controversial, propofol may be a useful induction agent for this procedure.