A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF INTRANASAL KETAMINE AND INTRANASAL DEXMEDETOMIDINE FOR PREMEDICATION IN PAEDIATRIC SURGERIES.

Any surgical procedure and the preoperative phase is very stressful for both the parents and the children. Premedication in children should aim at relieving this stress and anxiety. Several drugs have been used to nd the best sedative agent and the best route of administration of these drugs in children. Both the drugs ketamine and dexmedetomidine are effective for premedication in children undergoing surgery. Comparison of the efcacy of intranasal ketamine (6mg/kg) and intranasal dexmedetomidine (1mcg/kg) as premedication in pediatric patients undergoing elective surgeries was done. This was a randomized, comparative, double blinded, prospective, single center study conducted in a tertiary care institute. It was found that Intranasal injection of ketamine (6mg/kg) as premedication proved better to relieve the Parental separation anxiety and for better mask acceptance in pediatric patients between 2-9 years of age. Ketamine showed signicantly better response than dexmedetomidine in context to no fear and anxiety and aggression to intravenous cannulation, and good behavioral response, and children were calm during parental seperation while taking them to OR, and also, parents were highly satised by this clinical outcome. ABSTRACT KEYWORDS : Pediatric patients, Premedicat