ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the effect of ketamine preemptive analgesia on postoperative pain and recovery in laparoscopic cholecystectomy(LC). Methods Eighty LC patients under general anesthesia with propofol and remifentany were randomly divided into two groups of PR and PRK with 40 cases each. The patients in group PRK were given additional low-dose ketamine 0.3 mg/kg before skin incision. Recovery from anesthesia was evaluated at 30 min, 1 h and 12 h after surgery by SS and VRS scoring. Results There were no significant differences in the time for regaining spontaneous breathing,opening eyes and extubation between the two groups. But recovery of anesthesia was with less restlessness and VRS pain scores, better sedation in group PRK than those in group PR (P< 0.05). Conclusion Preemptive intravenous analgesia with low-dose ketamine has the advantage of quicker recovery from anesthesia with less incidence of restlessness and pain in LC patients.