(September 29,2020) "Classics in ECT" : Earliest ECT Propofol Citation

 "Classics in ECT" brings you this letter to the Editor in Lancet from 1988:

Propofol and electroconvulsive therapy

Rampton AJ, Griffin RM, Durcan JJ, Stuart CS.Lancet. 1988 Feb 6;1(8580):296-7. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(88)90374-1.PMID: 2893104
The pdf is here.

According to PubMed, this LTE is the earliest (out of a total of 317 citations to  "propofol electroconvulsive") published report of the use of propofol for ECT anesthesia. Rampton and colleagues report a comparison of seizure length in 10 patients between methohexitone (average, 32 seconds) and propofol (average,18 seconds). Their publication was one month earlier than that of EC Rouse (in Anaesthesia, 20 patients, reported on recovery times, blood pressure, pain on injection, as well as seizure duration). Rampton et al. do refer to a 1987 paper by KH Simpson, but I cannot find that reference.
 So began the ongoing debate about whether the anticonvulsant property of propofol is a detriment to ECT efficacy. A flurry of papers followed in 1988 and the publications have continued since.
According to Wikipedia, "Propofol was discovered in 1977 and approved for use in the United States in 1989."



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