Ketamine Anesthesia For Intrathecal Chemotherapy And Bone Marrow Aspiration In Pediatric Oncology Procedures

摘要

Ketamine is a phencyclidine and cyclohexamine derivative. It is unique among the sedative analgesics in producing dissociative state between the thalamus and the limbic system which is characterized by four features: sedation, analgesia, amnesia and catalepsy. Ketamine does not lead to loss of protective reflexes (1). Ketamine together with atropine and benzodiazepines has been increasingly used in recent years as an effective form of deep sedation/anesthesia in children in various emergency departments namely dental, radiation therapy, radiology suite and oncologic units (2). Office-based anesthesia is usually the commonly used anesthetic scheme in oncology units. However, to our knowledge there is no established anesthetic protocol yet. Therefore, the present study was conducted in a pediatric oncology day care unit where children requiring intrathecal chemotherapy and bone marrow aspiration under ketamine anesthesia was studied (3). The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of using ketamine as a sole anesthetic agent for pediatric oncology procedures.