Intravenous ketamine, propofol and propofol-ketamine combination used for pediatric dental sedation: A randomized clinical study

Background and Objective: Dental treatments cannot be always performed under local anesthesia in pediatric non-cooperative patients. For this purpose, different anesthetic techniques have been applied to increase patient comport to dental treatments.

Methods: Sixty children classified as ASA I-II, between aged 3 to 9, who were scheduled to undergo tooth extraction, were enrolled for this randomized study. Group K received 1 mg/kg ketamine, Group P received 1 mg/kg propofol, and Group KP received 0.5 mg/kg propofol plus 0.5 mg/kg ketamine intravenously for anesthesia induction.

Results: Recovery time was significantly lower in Group P than Group KP. No significant differences were found between groups regarding HR, before and after the induction, at tenth minute. Fifth minute’s HR was higher in Group K than Group KP. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) values were similar at baseline, before and after the induction, and at tenth minute, whereas significantly lower values were found in Group P and Group KP than in Group K at fifth minute.

Conclusions: Although ketamine, propofol and ketamine-propofol combination are effective for sedation in tooth extraction in pediatric patients, propofol may be an excellent alternative, with the shortest recovery, no nausea and vomiting, and reasonable surgical satisfaction.