efficacy and safety of cisatracurium in electroconvulsive therapy: a randomized, single-blind, clinical trial

Background: electroconvulsive therapy (ect) is widely accepted as a safe and effective treatment in psychiatric patients. although succinylcholine is the choice of muscle relaxant in this process, its adverse effects and contraindications must be considered.objectives: this study investigated the efficacy of cisatracurium as an alternative in ect patients. materials & methods: this single-blind clinical trial was performed in an academic hospital in northern iran from july 2023 to march 2024. a total of 62 eligible ect patients were enrolled in the survey and randomly divided into succinylcholine (0.5 mg/kg) and cisatracurium (0.1 mg/kg) groups. seizure duration, mean arterial pressure, heart rate, the time to return to spontaneous breathing, and recovery time were recorded and compared between the two groups.results: no significant difference was observed between the two groups regarding seizure duration and hemodynamic parameters (p>0.05). however, the time to return to spontaneous breathing (p=0.0001) and recovery time (p=0.0001) were significantly longer in the cisatracurium group. none of the patients was affected by serious adverse effects.conclusion: cisatracurium is a safe alternative to succinylcholine and can be administrated during ect.