Clinical trial NCT03863925: Comparison of Propofol Target-Controlled Infusion Anesthesia and Bolus Injection in Electroconvulsive Therapy
Official title: Comparison of Propofol Target-Controlled Infusion Anesthesia and Bolus Injection in Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE4
Conditions: Depression
Schizophrenia
Bipolar Disorder
Cognitive Dysfunction
Keywords: Electroconvulsive therapy
Propofol
Target controlled infusion
Lead sponsor: Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2019-03-05
Enrollment: 40
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 20
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) serves as an effective adjuvant or alternative modality for major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, or bipolar affective disorder refractory to or contraindicated to psychopharmacological treatment. Anesthetics have been introduced into ECT sessions to alleviate ECT-inducing discomfort sensation, tachycardia, arrhythmia, hypertension, and anxiety. Propofol is highly lipid soluble and able to rapidly cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which leads to rapid onset of sedation and hypnosis. Meanwhile, propofol has hemodynamic depressant effect and attenuates hypertensive surge during ECT. Characteristics mentioned above make propofol one of widely used anesthetics for anesthetized ECT.

Propofol can be administered with bolus injection or target-controlled infusion (TCI). Compared with bolus injection, TCI provides relatively constant concentration at site of interest based on computer simulation with input of pharmacokinetic parameters, such as age, body weight, body height, etc. However, propofol is also well known for anticonvulsant property, which may inevitably interfere with seizure propagation by electroconvulsive stimulus and diminish consequent efficacy. Thus, dosage of electrical stimulus may be increased to achieve ideal seizure quality in this setting, which also leads to higher risk of subsequent cognitive impairment.

In our clinical practice, TCI system reduces total amount of propofol in comparison with bolus injection method. Therefore, we hypothesize that application of TCI system in anesthetized ECT relates to lower dosage of electrical stimulus and decreased incidence or severity of post-treatment cognitive impairment.

Detailed description: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) serves as an effective adjuvant or alternative modality for major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, or bipolar affective disorder refractory to or contraindicated to psychopharmacological treatment. Anesthetics have been introduced into ECT sessions to alleviate ECT-inducing discomfort sensation, tachycardia, arrhythmia, hypertension, and anxiety. Propofol is highly lipid soluble and able to rapidly cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which leads to rapid onset of sedation and hypnosis. Meanwhile, propofol has hemodynamic depressant effect and attenuates hypertensive surge during ECT. Characteristics mentioned above make propofol one of widely used anesthetics for anesthetized ECT.

Propofol can be administered with bolus injection or target-controlled infusion (TCI). Compared with bolus injection, TCI provides relatively constant concentration at site of interest based on computer simulation with input of pharmacokinetic parameters, such as age, body weight, body height, etc. However, propofol is also well known for anticonvulsant property, which may inevitably interfere with seizure propagation by electroconvulsive stimulus and diminish consequent efficacy. Thus, dosage of electrical stimulus may be increased to achieve ideal seizure quality in this setting, which also leads to higher risk of subsequent cognitive impairment.

In our clinical practice, TCI system reduces total amount of propofol in comparison with bolus injection method. Therefore, we hypothesize that application of TCI system in anesthetized ECT relates to lower dosage of electrical stimulus and decreased incidence or severity of post-treatment cognitive impairment.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Age between 20 years old and 65 years old
* Diagnosis of major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, compatible with SCID for DSM-5, with clinical necessity of ECT under a psychiatrist's evaluation and decision
* Patients with adequate visual acuity and auditory acuity without or with correction
* Patients or patients' legal representative signing up the informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients already diagnosed with neurocognitive disorder
* Patients with contraindications to ECT, including myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular disease, elevated intracranial pressure, intracranial angiomas, untreated bony fractures, cervical spine injury, pheochromocytoma, heart failure, sever valvular disease, deep vein thrombosis, etc.
* Patients with untreated substance abuse, including alcohol and illegal drugs
* Patients with unspecified psychiatric disorders
* Patients unable to cooperate

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change from baseline Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S)
timeFrame: through study completion, an average of one month
measure: Change from baseline Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I)
timeFrame: through study completion, an average of one month
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Cognitive dysfunction
timeFrame: through study completion, an average of one month
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Taoyuan City
country: Taiwan
facility: Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
Study officials:
affiliation: Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
name: Meng Ling Hsieh
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Semkovska M, McLoughlin DM. Objective cognitive performance associated with electroconvulsive therapy for depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Sep 15;68(6):568-77. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.06.009. Epub 2010 Jul 31.
citation: Sackeim HA, Prudic J, Fuller R, Keilp J, Lavori PW, Olfson M. The cognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy in community settings. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2007 Jan;32(1):244-54. doi: 10.1038/sj.npp.1301180. Epub 2006 Aug 23.
citation: McClintock SM, Choi J, Deng ZD, Appelbaum LG, Krystal AD, Lisanby SH. Multifactorial determinants of the neurocognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy. J ECT. 2014 Jun;30(2):165-76. doi: 10.1097/YCT.0000000000000137.
citation: Nasreddine ZS, Phillips NA, Bedirian V, Charbonneau S, Whitehead V, Collin I, Cummings JL, Chertkow H. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA: a brief screening tool for mild cognitive impairment. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2005 Apr;53(4):695-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53221.x.
citation: Sakamoto A, Hoshino T, Suzuki N, Suzuki H, Kimura M, Ogawa R. Effects of propofol anesthesia on cognitive recovery of patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1999 Dec;53(6):655-60. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1819.1999.00621.x.
citation: Imashuku Y, Kanemoto K, Senda M, Matsubara M. Relationship between blood levels of propofol and recovery of memory in electroconvulsive therapy. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2014 Apr;68(4):270-4. doi: 10.1111/pcn.12122. Epub 2013 Dec 8.
citation: Galvez V, Hadzi-Pavlovic D, Wark H, Harper S, Leyden J, Loo CK. The Anaesthetic-ECT Time Interval in Electroconvulsive Therapy Practice--Is It Time to Time? Brain Stimul. 2016 Jan-Feb;9(1):72-7. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2015.09.005. Epub 2015 Sep 12.
citation: Struys MM, De Smet T, Glen JI, Vereecke HE, Absalom AR, Schnider TW. The History of Target-Controlled Infusion. Anesth Analg. 2016 Jan;122(1):56-69. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000001008.
citation: Hsieh ML, Lu YT, Lin CC, Lee CP. Comparison of the target-controlled infusion and the manual infusion of propofol anesthesia during electroconvulsive therapy: an open-label randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry. 2021 Feb 4;21(1):71. doi: 10.1186/s12888-021-03069-6.