Atropine Premedication in Electroconvulsive Therapy

Atropine has been used in ECT to eliminate parasympathetically mediated dysrhythmias. However, it may increase heart rate and myocardial workload. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of atropine premedication on the heart rate and blood pressure. Study was performed in 80 patients referred for a course of ECT. They enrolled randomly in one of the two equal groups to receive atropine premedication or placebo. ECT protocol was the same for both groups except for atropine 0.5 mg which injected intravenously in the case group. There was no significant difference between heart rate and MAP in atropine 0.5 mg group compared to placebo at the most of the time points. We concluded the use of intravenous atropine 0.5mg prior to induction of ECT anesthesia has no significant effect on heart rate and MAP while it may has some protective effect against bradyarrhythmias. Keywords—Blood pressure, Electroconvulsive therapy, Heart rate.