Ketamine popularity for procedural sedation is on the rise, again. It provides pain relief, sedation, and memory loss while maintaining airway reflexes and has little effect on the heart.
Traditional administration has been the intravenous or intramuscular route, but consider intransal now.
Recent articles have touted the intranasal administration of ketamine for pediatric procedural sedation with good success.
Admittedly, the number of patients enrolled in the studies to date have been small and the dosages have varied from 1 to 9 mg/kg/dose. However, none of the studies have reported any bad outcomes or complications.
So, consider IN ketamine for your next pediatric procedural sedation.
References
Andolfatto G, et al. Intranasal ketamine for analgesia in theemergency department: a prospective observational study. Acad Emerg Med. 2013. Oct;20(10):1050-4.
Tsze DS, et al. Intranasal ketamine for procedural sedation in pediatric laceration repair: a preliminary report. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2012. August;28(8);767-70.
Hall D, et al. Intranasal ketamine for procedural sedation. Emerg Med J. 2014;31:789-90.
