Publication:

A double blinded comparative study of oral premedication in children with midazolam alone or in combination with ketamine

Background Surgery and anaesthesia induction cause considerable emotional stress upon children. In children pre-anaesthetic medications are frequently administered as pharmacological adjunction to alleviate the stress and fear of surgery as well as to ease child-parent separation and promote a smooth induction of anaesthesia.

Methods Prospective double blinded randomized comparative study of oral premedication in children with midazolam alone or combination of midazolam with low dose ketamine in the age group of 3-10 years undergoing surgical procedures under standardized general anesthesia.

Results In group M success rate of satisfactory sedation was 68.99% as against 76.59% in group MK, whereas success rate of anxiolysis was 80.00% in group M compared to 93.33% in group MK. 93.32% children were easily separated from parents in M Group compared to 96.66% in MK group. Also 73.32% children co-operated for IV line insertion in M group as against 96.66% in group MK and 83.33% children showed better mask acceptance in M group compared to 93.33% in MK group.

Conclusions From present study, it was concluded that addition of low dose of ketamine improves quality and success rate of satisfactory sedation, anxiolysis, parental separation, co-operation for IV line and mask acceptance.