Adverse effects of incisional subcutaneous administration of low dose ketamine after cesarean section under spinal anesthesia

When talking about the beneficial effects of ketamine as a nociceptive N-methyl Daspartate (NMDA) antagonist for analgesia during surgery, psychological and systemic side effects should be considered. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the side effects of incisional subcutaneous administration of low dose ketamine after cesarean section.

Sixty patients, aged 18-25 years, scheduled for elective cesarean section were enrolled to this double-blind randomized controlledtrial study. Patients were divided into two groups of each 30 and group1(C) received 10 CC saline and group 2(k) received 0.5 mg/kg ketamine after skin closure subcutaneously at the site of surgery. Mean arterial pressure, heart rate, nausea, vomiting, nystagmus, hallucination, pruritus, level of sedation and respiratory depression were evaluated for 4 hours after injection.

Maximum mean arterial pressure and heart rate and also incidence of nausea were lower in group K but not significant (p>0.05). Incidence of vomiting, nystagmus, hallucination, pruritus, level of sedation and respiratory depression were not significantly different in two groups (p>0.05). Conclution: The subcutaneous prescription of low doses of ketamine for analgesia after surgery is safe and without serious adverse effects.