Propofol for electroconvulsive therapy. A comparison with methohexitone. Preliminary report.

Twenty patients who received electroconvulsive therapy were anaesthetised with either propofol or methohexitone in a randomised crossover study. Recovery times were similar but patients who received propofol tended to be orientated sooner. The decrease in arterial blood pressure after induction was greater with propofol than with methohexitone. There was an increase in blood pressure immediately after therapy in patients who received methohexitone but not in those given propofol. There was a slight difference in pain on injection. The mean duration of convulsion (measured in 10 patients) during anaesthesia was shorter with propofol than with methohexitone.