A comparison of dexmedetomidine with propofol versus esmolol with propofol to attenuate the hemodynamic stress responses after electroconvulsive therapy

Challenges during Electroconvulsive Therapy—A Review

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is one of the most successful treatment techniques employed in psychiatric practice. ECT is usually administered as a last resort to a patient who fails to respond to medical management or on an urgent basis as a life-saving procedure when immediate response is desired. It is performed under general anesthesia and is often associated with autonomic changes. All attempts should be made to minimize the resulting hemodynamic disturbances in all the patients using various pharmacological methods. Anesthesiologists providing anesthesia for ECT frequently encounter patients with diverse risk factors. Concurrent cardiovascular, neurological, respiratory, and endocrine disorders may require modification of anesthetic technique. It is ideal to optimize patients before ECT. In this review, the authors discuss the optimization, management, and modification of anesthesia care for patients with various cardiac, neurological, respiratory, and endocrine disorders presenting for ECT to improve the safety of the procedure. It is not infrequent that an anesthesiologist also plays an important role in inducing a seizure. Proconvulsants such as caffeine, adjuvants like opioids, hyperventilation, and appropriate choice of anesthetic agent for induction such as etomidate or ketamine can help. The use of BIS monitoring to guide the timing of electric stimulation is also elaborated in this review.

Premedication effect of melatonin on propofol induction dose for anesthesia, anxiety, orientation and sedation after abdominal surgery: a double-blinded randomized trial

The present study addressed the effect of melatonin premedication on propofol induction dose for anesthesia in abdominal surgery. This is a double-blinded clinical trial in which abdominal surgery patients admitted to the Valiasr Hospital, Iran (n = 88) were enrolled and individually randomized into two groups: melatonin and placebo groups sublingually administered 3 mg of melatonin and placebo, respectively, 50 minutes before surgery. Their anxiety, orientation, and sedation were recorded before melatonin administration, anesthesia induction, and recovery, while we also recorded the propofol induction dose required for general anesthesia. Anxiety was seen less in the melatonin group than the placebo group (P < 0.05), whereas orientation was significantly different before anesthesia induction (P = 0.044) and sedation was the same before the induction (P = 0.044) and recovery (P = 0.049) in both groups, with a better efficiency in the melatonin group in which a lower dose of propofol was used (P = 0.002). The sedation, anxiety, and propofol dose used were lower in the melatonin group than the placebo group. The recommended dosage was 3 mg of melatonin once to achieve an anesthetic depth index or a bispectral index of 40. The study was approved by Ethical Committee of Arak University of Medical Sciences with IR.ARAKMU.REC.1395.432 code in July 2016, and the trial was registered in Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials with IRCT20141209020258N98 in September 2016.

Anaesthesia in electroconvulsive therapy. Special conditions

OBJECTIVES

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is one of the main techniques available for the treatment of such serious mental illnesses as schizophrenia and drug-resistant depression. The pre-anaesthetic assessment appropriate for patients with various mental disorders or pathologies does not differ substantially from that of any patient prior to undergoing anaesthesia for a surgical procedure. The present review aims to propose guidelines to achieve a higher level of safety and effectiveness during ECT in the most frequent situations, in accordance with the current literature.

METHODS

We conducted a search on the role of anaesthesia in ECT in the Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, and SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online) databases, with special attention to the populations undergoing this type of therapy. The search was carried out between 1978 and December 2016.

RESULTS

We included the 96 articles that contained the most important recommendations for the preparation of this guide.

CONCLUSIONS

We propose these guidelines in order to achieve a higher level of safety and effectiveness during ECT in special conditions. We also summarize the most important attitude to be taken into account by the anaesthesiologist in these cases.