Background: Propofol is the induction agent of choice for carrying out day care surgeries. Hypotension is one of its common adverse effects. Several drugs were evaluated in preventing this hypotension which gave inconclusive results.
Aims and objectives: This study aimed to compare the efficacy of ephedrine and ketamine in preventing the hypotension due to induction with propofol. Its objective was to evaluate if ketamine has better efficacy than ephedrine in reducing the incidence of hypotension following propofol induction.
Materials and Methods: We had done this randomized double-blind placebo controlled study prospectively in a total of 120 patients over 18 months. Patients planning to undergo elective surgeries under general anesthesia belonging to American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) Grades 1 and 2 were incorporated in the study. They were divided into three groups after randomization. They were given normal saline (Group NS), ephedrine (Group ED), and ketamine (Group KA) just before administration of propofol for induction. Parameters such as non-invasive blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and oxygen saturation were noted at baseline, 1 min after propofol administration, just before endotracheal intubation and at 1, 2, and 3 min after endotracheal intubation. The efficacies of drugs were assessed based on variation in BP and HR.
Results: In this study, the systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure values in group KA and group ED after propofol injection and before endotracheal intubation were considerably higher than that of group NS (P < 0.001). The mean HR values in the three groups were similar (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Ephedrine and ketamine have similar efficacy in reducing the incidence of hypotension following induction with propofol.
Key words: Hemoglobin; Cognitive Function; Wechsler Memory Scale III
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