Ketamine combined with tramadol for postoperative intravenous analgesia

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of ketamine combined with tramadol for postoperative intravenous analgesia.Methods Sixty ASA Ⅰ-Ⅱ patients underwent spinal surgery were devided into two groups with 30 cases each.Ketsmine 100 mg plus tramadol 400 mg was used in group B,and tramadol 800 mg alone in group A as a control.Granisetron 3 mg was added into the analgesic solution that was diluted to 100 ml with normal saline in both groups.Analgesic solution was infused continuously in a dose of 2 ml/h for 48 h postoperatively and analgesia was evaluated by VAS and side effects were recorded.Results Postoperative analgesia was satisfactory in both groups,but the side effects including nausea,vomiting,skin pruritus and lethargy were significantly less in group B than those in group A(P＜0.01).Conclusions Ketamine combined with tramadol is effective and safe for postoperative intravenous analgesia with the advantages of reducing tramadol requirement and its side effects. Key words: Ketamine; Tramadol;  Postoperative analgesia