• Moacyr A Rosa, Marina O Rosa, Iara M T Belegarde, Celso R Bueno, and Felipe Fregni.
• Department of Psychiatry, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. moarosa@hcnet.usp.br
• Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2008 Jun 1;30(2):149-51.

ObjectivesTo compare post anesthetic time for patient recovery after electroconvulsive therapy, as measured by the post anesthetic Recovery Score of Aldrete and Kroulik, using three different types of hypnotic drugs (propofol, etomidate and thiopental).MethodThirty patients were randomized to receive one of the three drugs (n = 10 in each group), during a course of electroconvulsive therapy treatment. Patients and raters were blinded to which drug was received. Main treatment characteristics were recorded (as total electric charge received seizure threshold, number of treatments, and the mean time for recovery) along the whole treatment.ResultsThiopental and propofol were associated with a significance increase in charge needed to induce a seizure (p < 0.0001) when compared to etomidate, as well as a significant decrease of time for recovery (p = 0.042).ConclusionsThese findings suggest that, although there seems to be no difference in the clinical outcome across these three drugs, propofol offers the best recovery profile. However, it makes a higher mean electric charge necessary.

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