ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Ketamine is used as a general anesthetic for short-term surgical procedures. The aim of this study is to compare the effect of intravenous (IV) ketamine and intramuscular (IM) ketamine in children admitted to the emergency department (ED). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a clinical trial on 60 patients who were randomly classified into two groups. The first group received IV ketamine (1 mg/kg) and the second received IM ketamine (4 mg/kg). Data were collected before, during, and after the procedure. Time to reach sedation, severity of the sedation, and complications of the drug until discharge were studied. RESULTS: In this study, 60 patients were evaluated. The average length of the procedures was similar in both groups (P > 0.05). According to this study, sedation levels in the two groups in 5, 10, and 15 minutes did not show significant differences (P > 0.05), but there was a significant difference in sedation levels of patients in 30, 35, 40, and 45 minutes during sedation (P = 0.03, P = 0.04, P = 0.03 and P = 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of complications between the two groups. DICUSSION: There was no significant difference in complications and level of sedation in both groups, but sedation was longer in the IM group; so, IV ketamine is the desirable approach for orthopedic procedures in sedating children.
