Intramuscular ketamine pre-medication to separate children from their parents

Total of 68 cases (children of age ranging from 1-10 years) were analyzed to see the effect of intramuscular ketamine to separate them from their parents. Every case was injected ketamine 5mg/kg of body weight and atropine 0.02mg/kg of body weight. The result showed 56 (82.4%) of the cases to be asleep, 10 (14.7%) of the cases calmly separated, 2 (2.9%) of the cases sedated but tearing and none of them was found difficult to separate from the parents. Tolerance of face mask and IV opening showed, 60 (88.24%) of the cases easily tolerated the face mask and IV opening, 6 (8.8%) of the cases slightly moved and 2 (2.9%) of the cases had to be held by assistant during application of face mask and IV opening. The pulse rate slightly increased after 5 minutes of pre-medication and slowed down after 10 minutes more or less to the baseline, and after 15 minutes pulse rate slightly dropped beyond the base line showing that patients were more haemodynamically stable. As pulse rate before pre-medication was found slightly higher than after 15 minutes of pre-medication it may due to apprehension and anxiety. Average time taken to separate the patients was 7.1 minutes (Range, 5 to 10 minutes) which is very convenient for conducting the operation in time. From this study it was concluded that Intramuscular Ketamine for pre-medication in children to separate from the parents is effective, takes less time, keeps the patients haemodynamically stable and is very safe.