title: Oral ketamine for radiotherapy in children with cancer.
abstract: Children coming for radiotherapy under sedation usually get repeated injections, which cause distress to both the child and the parents. A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of oral ketamine for sedation for radiotherapy (RT) in children with cancer. Ten children who received 49 sittings of RT were given 8-15 mg/kg body weight of oral ketamine. The onset time, recovery time, efficacy of sedation and incidence of abnormal movements were compared with another group of 8 children, who received intramuscular ketamine in the dose of 6 mg/kg for a total of 28 sittings of RT. Onset time and recovery time were significantly longer in oral ketamine group as compared to the intramuscular group (p < 0.001). Limb movements in patients receiving oral ketamine necessitated further supplement of sedation and interruption of RT. These drawbacks discourage use of oral ketamine as a good sedative for radiotherapy treatment in paediatric oncology patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shewale
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trikha
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharief
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000778:Anesthetics, Dissociative / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016292:Procedural Sedation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D007649:Ketamine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D000778:Anesthetics, Dissociative; D007649:Ketamine