Comparative Study of Heart Rate and Blood Pressure Changes during and after Electroconvulsive Therapy Followed by Two Different Doses of Labetalol

Nowadays, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is considered as an effective treatment for psychological disorders. The ECT, and induced seizure, stimulates cardiovascular system through parasympathetic system and then sympathetic stimulation. Therefore, heart rate and blood pressure increase significantly to the extent that may cause ischemia and coronary diseases in high-risk patients. In the current study, the effects of two different doses of labetalol treatment on hemodynamic changes during ETC were compared.

The current cross-sectional randomized clinical trial study was conducted on 36 patients underwent two sessions of ECT. Each time, they were randomly treated with one of the labetalol doses of 0.2 or 0.4 mg/kg. Furthermore, all the patients were treated with 0.5 mg/kg succinylcholine and 2 mg/kg sodium thiopental. Blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, recovery duration, time of spontaneous respiration return following ECT, and dose-related complications were recorded in two groups and compared.

Comparison of two groups presented no statistical differences regarding mean arterial, systolic, and diastolic blood pressure; while nausea and vomiting occurred less in low-dose-treated group (P = 0.020).

 Both doses of 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg labetalol could make a stable hemodynamic without affecting the quality and duration of the seizure in negative manner; but low dose of labetalol was accompanied with fewer adverse effects.