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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Induction of an Isoelectric Brain State to Investigate the Impact of Endogenous Synaptic Activity on Neuronal Excitability In Vivo
Published on: March 31, 2016
Recovery after ECT: comparison of propofol, etomidate and thiopental
Moacyr A Rosa1, Marina O Rosa, Iara M T Belegarde
1Department of Psychiatry, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. moarosa@hcnet.usp.br
Objectives:
To 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).
Method:
Thirty 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.
Results:
Thiopental 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).
Conclusions:
These 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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