Ketamine Efficacy During Endoscopy in Adults

Abstract

The use of Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (UGE) for diagnosis and treatment is becoming increasingly more frequent in children. Unlike adults, children require deep sedation. The effects of ketamine, one of the most commonly used agents in UGE of children, are rapid, but short; ketamine offers quick recovery and has wide confidence intervals. The basic aim of this review is to explain the Ketamine efficacy during endoscopy in adult patients. Ketamine is a general anaesthetic agent widely used for paediatric procedural sedation outside the operating theatre by non-anesthesiologists. It is considered a dissociative anaesthetic. Endoscopy is the most accurate and beneficial way for the diagnosis of dyspepsia, peptic ulcers, and malignancies. Sedative drugs are used for both patient and physician satisfaction during the procedure; type of endoscopy, duration, degree of difficulty, and patients’ physical status are the criteria which determine the suitable type of sedation for endoscopy. It is concluded from the literature and previously published data low-dose oral administration of ketamine could make a suitable sedation for gastro-enteric endoscopy.