Xinyu Dai,1,* Rui Zhang,2,* Nan Deng,1 Le Tang,3 Bangshu Zhao1 

1Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurosurgery, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Psychiatry, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Bangshu Zhao, Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016, People’s Republic of China, Tel +8615823079815, Email Bangshuzhao@hospital.cqmu.edu.cn

Abstract: The prevalence of severe mental disorders has been rising annually. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is considered a valuable treatment option in psychiatry for conditions such as schizophrenia and medication-resistant depression, especially when other treatments have proven insufficient. ECT rapidly improves patients’ mood, alleviates symptoms, and demonstrates significant therapeutic effects. Currently, the form of ECT used in clinical practice is modified electroconvulsive therapy (mECT), which is administered under general anesthesia. Accumulative evidence has confirmed that different anesthetic drugs, anesthetic-ECT time interval, anesthetic depth, and airway management can impact the outcomes of ECT. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the current impact of anesthesia factors on ECT, providing reference for clinical anesthesia during ECT procedures.

Keywords: mental disorders, ECT, anesthesia factors