MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
Department of Pharmacy
Department of Nursing
Critical Care

 

Generic Name: Ketamine

Brand Name: Ketalar®

Action: Ketamine is a nonbarbiturate anesthetic/analgesic that produces a cataleptic-like state in which the patient is dissociated from the surrounding environment by direct action on the cortex and limbic system

Indications:

Restrictions:

Administration Guidelines:

Usual Dosage Range and Route:

Analgesia and Sedation in Special Care Units Only

LOADING DOSE: 0.2-1 mg/kg IVP no faster than 60 seconds to avoid respiratory depression and enhanced vasopressor response
MAINTENANCE: 5-30 mcg/kg/min titrated to patient response

Conscious Sedation in Approved Areas

IV: 2 mg/kg Atropine (0.01 mg/kg IV) or glycopyrrolate (0.01 mg/kg) should be administered to prevent hypersalivation.
IM: a single 4 mg/kg Ketamine (concentration 100 mg/ml to limit pain on injection) with atropine 0.02 mg/kg in the same syringe.
IV: supplement 1 mg/kg Ketamine as needed.
Supplemental doses of IM ketamine are not approved for any patient.

 

Standard Concentration:

MICROINFUSION: 500mg/50mL (10mg/mL) Syringe

Special Considerations:

Precautions and Side Effects:

Rev. 12/02