Propofol is a commonly used
anesthetic drug for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), as evidenced by the frequency with which its use is reported in ECT literature. Concerns have been raised over its propensity to be associated with shortened seizure duration vis-à-vis other
anesthetic drugs, thus limiting its use in some settings. However, in the surgical
anesthesia literature,
propofol has shown distinct advantages such as improved hemodynamics and postanesthesia recovery. Given the capricious availability of standard
barbiturate anesthetics in some countries,
propofol use has probably increased. Thus, a review of its profile for a number of outcome measures in ECT is appropriate. Herein, the author reviews the extensive literature for
propofol in ECT, focusing on 5 outcome measures: seizure duration, hemodynamics, postanesthesia recovery, cognitive adverse effects, and therapeutic efficacy. Results indicate that
propofol is indeed robustly associated with shorter
seizures than other
anesthetics but that
antidepressant efficacy does not seem to be compromised. Heart rate and blood pressure changes are not as high with
propofol, and postanesthesia recovery may be quicker with
propofol as well. Not enough data are available regarding cognitive adverse effects to make definitive conclusions, but so far, there does not seem to be a worsened cognitive profile when it is used in ECT.
Propofol seems to be an acceptable
anesthetic for ECT with advantages for some situations. Using the lowest effective
anesthetic dosage minimizes its effect on seizure elicitation and duration.