Anesthesia outcomes in a randomized double-blind trial of sevoflurane and thiopental for induction of general anesthesia in electroconvulsive therapy.

The purpose of the study was to compare hemodynamics and postanesthetic tolerability of sevoflurane versus thiopental in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The design was a randomized double-blind trial in the ECT suite of a tertiary referral medical center. Thirty-one patients were randomized to either sevoflurane or thiopental induction of anesthesia for up to 6 of each subject's ECT treatments.

Seizure length with sevoflurane and thiopental for induction of general anesthesia in electroconvulsive therapy: a randomized double-blind trial.

In general, seizure length does not correlate with clinical outcome with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but whether markedly short seizures are still therapeutic is unknown. Furthermore, seizure length effects on clinical outcome in ECT may be different among the various anesthetic agents available. Several studies have investigated the use of inhalational anesthesia in ECT with sevoflurane.