A Within-Subject Comparison of Seizure Duration with Etomidate and Methohexital in Electroconvulsive Therapy

Authors

Kevin J. Black, Washington University School of Medicine in St. LouisFollow

Document Type

Other

Journal

PeerJ Preprints

Publication Date

2013

Notes

Objective: To determine whether etomidate is associated with longer seizures than methohexital in ECT anesthesia. Methods: Retrospective chart review in 39 patients who were switched from one anesthetic to the other. We compared motor and EEG seizure duration in the last ECT session on one anesthetic and the first session on the other anesthetic. Results: Motor seizures were about 10 seconds longer with etomidate (p < 0.05). However, few of the increases in seizure duration had obvious clinical import. Conclusions: Etomidate can lengthen ECT seizure time compared with methohexital, but the clinical significance of this observation requires further study.

Recommended Citation

Black, Kevin J., "A Within-Subject Comparison of Seizure Duration with Etomidate and Methohexital in Electroconvulsive Therapy" (2013). Psychiatry Faculty Publications. Paper 26.
Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/psych_facpubs/26