Bryson Ethan O, Liebman Lauren, Nazarian Roya, Kellner Charles H
From the Departments of *Anesthesiology and †Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
J ECT. 2015 Jun;31(2):81-2. doi: 10.1097/YCT.0000000000000193.
Hip fractures are a common injury affecting older individuals, especially women with osteoporosis. When patients who are at risk for hip fractures or who have had such a fracture that was recently repaired require electroconvulsive therapy, care must be taken to ensure complete muscle relaxation. Adequate muscle relaxation can be achieved using a dose of succinylcholine of approximately 1 mg/kg in most patients, but for patients who are at risk for complications resulting from inadequate muscle relaxation, the dose of succinylcholine may need to be increased by 40% to 50% to ensure complete relaxation.
