Ketamine as an anaesthetic agent for tubal sterilisation.
OBJECTIVE
In most developing countries there is a dearth of qualified anaesthesiologists to administer general anaesthesia for tubal sterilisation. This study was done to determine whether ketamine could be safely used by non-specialist doctors as an anaesthetic for open tubal ligation.


METHODS
A retrospective observational study of 4851 tubal sterilisations done under ketamine anaesthesia. All patients were given diazepam 0.1 mg/kg body weight intravenously followed by intravenous ketamine 2 mg/kg body weight slowly over one minute. All sterilisations were performed by Pomeroys method by a specialist or a senior house officer with specialist supervision.


RESULTS
There were no major adverse reactions such as cardio-respiratory arrest following administration of ketamine. Hallucinations and transient psychotic sequalae were a common occurrence during the postoperative period. In 96% of patients the procedure was pain free.


CONCLUSIONS
Ketamine given by non-specialist doctors can be recommended in carefully selected patients when there is a dearth of qualified anaesthesiologists for tubal sterilisations.
Weerasekera
D S
DS
General Hospital, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.
Gunawardene
K K
KK
D000328:Adult; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D000778:Anesthetics, Dissociative / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007649:Ketamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013188:Sri Lanka; D013246:Sterilization, Tubal / Q000379:methods
D000778:Anesthetics, Dissociative; D007649:Ketamine