Ketamine for cardiac catheterisation

During the first six months of 1970, there were three basic anaesthetic techniques in use for cardiac catheterisation in the Birmingham Children’s Hospital. There were no specific indications for allocation of patients preferentially to any particular technique. Ketamine. Records of 40 cases are available. The drug was given intramuscularly in the majority of cases though the combination of intravenous and intramuscular routes was used in some and intravenous administration alone was used in a very few. Anaesthetic records were entered on special anaesthetic sheets provided by Parke-Davis Ltd. Some patients received prernedication with narcotic analgesic mixtures and some received antisialogogues prior to the administration of the anaesthetic. Sedation. Heavy sedation was used in 29 cases. Drugs used included chloral hydrate, diazepam, droperidol, phenoperidine and pentazocine in varying combinations. Many cases were premedicated with narcotic analgesics. General anaesthesia. General anaesthesia was used in 17 cases. In many cases the oxygen percentage was 40% as many authorities feel that this yields useful information as to the state of the pulmonary vasculature. Nitrous oxide, oxygen and halothane was used with spontaneous respiration except in three cases where no halothane was used. As ketamine was under trial the anaesthetic records were far more fully