Continuous intravenous infusion of low dose of ketamine combined with fentanyl used in pediatric patients

Objective To evaluate the effect and the side-effect of continuous intravenous infusion of low dose of ketamine com-bined with fentanyl for postoperative analgesia in pediatric patients undergoing abdominal surgery.Methods 36 pediatric patients undergoing general anesthesia for elective abdominal surgery were divided randomly into 2 groups.Group F(fentanyl 0.3 μg/(kg·h),Group FK(fentanyl 0.2 μg/(kg·h)+ ketamine 70μg/(kg·h),to accept intravenous postoperative analgesia.The pain scores of VAS,sedation scores,the incidence of side-effect including itching,nausea,vomiting,and central excitatory phenomena,and SpO2 were recorded at 6 h,24 h,36 h,48 h after operation.Results The pain score of group FK at each time point was significantly lower than that of group F(P0.01).There was no significant difference between the two groups(P0.05)on sedation scores.The incidence of nausea,vomiting,or itching of Group F was higher than group KF(P0.05).None with central excitatory phenomena was found in each group.At each time point,no significant difference was found in SpO2 values between these groups(P0.05),and all the SpO2 values were not less than 96%.Conclusion Low dose of ketamine augments the analgesic effect of PCIA with fentanyl in pediatric patients with a reduction of fentanyl consumption.