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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2016 Feb;95(6):e2701.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000002701.

Low-Dose Ketamine Pretreatment Reduces the Incidence and Severity of Myoclonus Induced by Etomidate: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Controlled Clinical Trial

Guan-Nan Wu  1 , Hai-Jun Xu, Fang-Fang Liu, Xian Wu, Hai Zhou
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Low-Dose Ketamine Pretreatment Reduces the Incidence and Severity of Myoclonus Induced by Etomidate: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Controlled Clinical Trial

Guan-Nan Wu et al. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016 Feb.

Abstract

Myoclonic movement induced by etomidate is a common but undesirable problem during general anesthesia induction. To investigate the influence of pretreatment with low-dose ketamine on the incidence and severity of myoclonus induced by etomidate, 104 patients were randomized allocated to 1 of 2 equally sized groups (n = 52) to receive either intravenous low-dose ketamine 0.5 mg/kg (group K) or an equal volume of normal saline (group S) 1 minute before induction of anesthesia with 0.3-mg/kg etomidate. The incidence and severity of myoclonus were assessed for 2 minutes after administration of etomidate. Here, we found that the incidence and intensity of myoclonus were both significantly reduced in low-dose ketamine-treated group compared with saline-treated group. The incidence of adverse effects was low and similar between groups. These results demonstrate that intravenous infusion of low-dose ketamine 0.5 mg/kg 1 minute prior to etomidate administration is effective in relieving etomidate-induced myoclonic movements during general anesthesia induction.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Patient flow (according to the consort chart). Group K = ketamine group, group S = saline group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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