Oral ketamine for wound care procedures in adult patients with burns

Abstract

Background: This prospective study was carried out to evaluate the usefulness of oral ketamine for burn wound dressing in adult patients. The aim was to achieve a state-of-conscious sedation in which the patient would be communicative and cooperative, with minimal, or no pain during burn wound care procedures. Method: Two hundred and forty wound care procedures were randomly assigned to six treatment groups of patients (groups A-F). The quantities of oral ketamine that they received were as follows: Group A, 0.5 mg/kg; B, 2 mg/kg; C, 4 mg/kg; D, 6 mg/kg; E, 8 mg/kg and F, 10 mg/kg. A five-point verbal rating scale was used to assess pain intensity: the AVPU (alert, voice, pain, unresponsive) scale for level of consciousness. The Likert scale was used for patient satisfaction. Blood pressure, pulse rate and oxygen saturation were monitored. Adverse effects were noted. Comparisons of the efficacy and safety of the different dosages of oral ketamine were made using the SPSS package. The efficacy criterion was verbal rating scale (VRS) ≤ 2, i.e no pain, mild pain or discomfort. Results: Patients in groups A and B reported higher levels of pain, and in groups C, D, E and F, there were varying degrees of efficacy. Groups E and F had the best analgesic profiles, but at the higher doses, some patients became anaesthetised. The most common adverse effects reported were hallucination (37%) and hypersalivation (29.9%), which occurred more frequently in groups E and F. The patients’ assessments of pain were best in Group D, and worst in Group A. Conclusion: The minimum effective subanaesthetic dose of oral ketamine for analgesia during wound care procedures in adult patients with burns was 6 mg/kg.

Keywords: burns, wound dressing, oral ketamine