Ketamine vs Propofol for Sedation During Pediatric Bronchoscopy

Pediatric bronchoscopy requires moderate to deep sedation in order to maintain patient comfort and safety, while optimizing the working environment for the physician performing the procedure. There is a paucity of pediatric research in the field of pediatric flexible bronchoscopy and data are often extrapolated from adult studies.

Propofol is often used as the sedation drug for this procedure due to its rapid sedative effect and favorable emergence profile. Propofol's major limitation is its tendency to cause apneas, which can occur in a relatively narrow therapeutic window. Apnea risk decreases with the patient's age and administering physician's familiarity and experience with the drug.

Ketamine is a drug often used for pediatric procedural sedation. Its pharmacologic safety profile is very wide, allowing a wide spectrum of dosing with a significantly reduced risk of apnea when compared to propofol. Known adverse effects of the drug include its emergence profile which may be accompanied by hallucinations, bronchorrhea and laryngospasm. Hallucinations may be prevented by using benzodiazepines concurrently and are possibly more pronounced in teenaged children compared to infants, although post-sedation irritability in the latter group might be an expression of this. Bronchorrhea, while usually not of significant concern during procedural sedation, has the potential to play a more noteworthy role during bronchoscopy. Significant airway secretions can create a difficult working environment for the pulmonologist performing the procedure. Patient safety may also be affected, as increased airway secretions reduce visibility in pediatric airways that are narrow to begin with and further compromised by placement of the bronchoscope. Potentially, this might also impact on the child's air flow and gas exchange. Laryngospasm during the procedure potentially hinders passage of the scope beyond the vocal cords and might extend the duration of the procedure.

In the investigators' center, propofol has most often been the sedative drug of choice for bronchoscopy. Yet, ketamine has been used at times due to its safety profile and the administering physicians level of comfort with each drug.

Aim:

To compare operator satisfaction and adverse effects in children presenting for flexible bronchoscopy using ketamine versus propofol as the primary sedative agent.