Electroconvulsive Therapy Anesthesia Without Raising the Convulsive Threshold With Dexmedetomidine and Remifentanil

Editor's Roundup for Issue 2 of 2023

“…This issue of Journal of ECT includes 6 contributions on the topic of the role of anesthetic management in improving the patient experience and outcomes with ECT 1–6 . Putting aside the incidental role of anesthesia during the implantation of a vagus nerve stimulation device, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and magnetic seizure therapy are alone among the brain stimulation techniques in requiring anesthesia during the delivery of the treatment.…”

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T his issue of Journal of ECT includes 6 contributions on the topic of the role of anesthetic management in improving the patient experience and outcomes with ECT. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Putting aside the incidental role of anesthesia during the implantation of a vagus nerve stimulation device, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and magnetic seizure therapy are alone among the brain stimulation techniques in requiring anesthesia during the delivery of the treatment. The conduct of anesthesia management during ECT may influence the medical safety of ECT, 1,2 the likelihood of success in inducing a therapeutic seizure, 6 the antidepressant efficacy of ECT, 4 the patient's level of comfort during anesthetic induction, 5 and the efficiency of patient throughput.

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