complications of conscious sedation

Trauma Columnist · Oct 24, 2004

Please contact your doctor immediately! Giving medical or nursing advice over the internet isn't advisable. Good luck...judi

jwk · Oct 24, 2004

has anyone heard of or cared for a pt. that displayed a neurological or psych complication after receiving ketamine for sedation? my daughter received ketamine for a colonoscopy and has not been the same since.initially she was agitated and demonstrated loss of fine m otor skills.its been 10 days but she still has trouble with word retreival,expressing herself verbally,c/o of inability to concentrate and is sad and regressed.she is seventeen and had none of these symptoms pre-procedure.as you can tell i am anxious and worried that there has been no significant improvement since that day-please advise.thank-you.

1) I agree she needs to be evaluated immediately.

2) Not sure why anyone would give ketamine for sedation for a colonscopy. There are far better ways of doing it.

rn29306 · Oct 25, 2004

1) I agree she needs to be evaluated immediately.

merlinmom · Oct 25, 2004

thanks for responding-she has seen doctors several times since this happened and i refused to take her home that day till aneshtesia spoke with me.the docs all tell me they have never seen this before-that's why i thought i would try the internet and maybe someone out there has heard of this atypical reaction.i will continue follow up with docs and have made appt for neuro exam.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Oct 26, 2004

Why did they give ketamine for colonoscopy?????????????????

gonnabe · Nov 4, 2004

Just curious-does your daughter have other health issues? How old is she?

skipaway · Nov 4, 2004

Has she been on or was she given steroids prior to her colonoscopy? Just interested b/c my niece, who is 11 had a similar rxn. to a steroid dose pack. It took a couple weeks to get her back to normal.

A Propofol/Ketamine/Versed cocktail is a very common sedation protocol for colonoscopies. Gives excellent sedation, pain relief and maintains respirations better than some other mixes.

merlinmom · Nov 5, 2004

yes-she is seventeen and has a histroy of depression and was diagnosed mildly retarded at age two.she has been very stable over the past several years-good grades in school-no behavior problems-teaches 2,3,&4yr olds Sunday school and most people can't "see" her problems.It has been 3 weeks since the sedation and she is still significantly regressed in behavior ,has word retrevial difficulties and is having episodes of crying now because she "wants my brain fixed".

merlinmom · Nov 5, 2004

yes-she is seventeen and has a histroy of depression and was diagnosed mildly retarded at age two.she has been very stable over the past several years-good grades in school-no behavior problems-teaches 2,3,&4yr olds Sunday school and most people can't "see" her problems.It has been 3 weeks since the sedation and she is still significantly regressed in behavior ,has word retrevial difficulties and is having episodes of crying now because she "wants my brain fixed".

we saw neuro today and are awaiting eeg and mri of brain.psych has already seen her and feels there is a neurological componant they have never seen before .have you heard of problems with ketamine? i was surprised it was used on a teen with a hx of depression and mr.my daughter has always told me that she wouldn't use drugs because she needs all the brain cells she has and now this has happened in a controlled setting in a normal dose.go figure!!!!

SusanJean · Nov 5, 2004

.have you heard of problems with ketamine? !

I agree w/ other posters: "Why was ketamine used w/ this procedure?"

My dh is a veterinarian and he does not even use this anymore -- only the "spay clinics" (budget medicine) use the stuff cuz it is so cheap.

I have heard stories from dh about former employees abusing the stuff and not having all "oars in the water". Don't know what came first tho, the drug or the prob.

Then there is always the idopathic side effect.

Hope things work out well w/ your daughter.

merlinmom · Nov 9, 2004

thanks to all who responded to my questions about conscious sedation.my daughter has not yest improved but she has had a eeg and are awaiting an mri-will post diagnosis as a reference and learning tool.