Ketamine–Propofol Mixture Is Safe and Effective for Pediatric Procedural Sedation

Ketamine provides excellent dissociative sedation and analgesia while maintaining blood pressure and respiratory drive but might cause vomiting and adverse emergence reactions. Propofol offers rapid and deep sedation but might cause respiratory depression and does not provide analgesia. A combination of these agents might provide both sedation and analgesia while mitigating the adverse effects of either agent. These authors prospectively evaluated the use of a 1:1 intravenous ketamine–propofol mixture (ketofol), each at 10 mg/mL concentration, in 219 children and adolescents (age range, 1–20 years) who required procedural sedation at a single emergency department in British Columbia.

Ketofol was administered in a single syringe in titrated a…