Abstract
General anesthesia in pediatric patients can vary from light sedation to complete anesthesia with unconsciousness, amnesia and muscle relaxation. A wide variety of procedures are done under general anesthesia in children ranging from surgeries done for correction of congenital defects, cardiac surgeries, scoliosis surgery, hernia surgery etc. to procedures done outside the operating room (OR) for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Non-Operating room Anesthesia (NORA) may include painless procedures like CT scan, MRI, radiotherapy for cancer treatment etc. or painful procedures like biopsy, lumbar puncture, securing IV access, insertion of central line etc. done in ICU which requires a cooperative child. Ketamine has an important role in the pediatric population, both as an induction agent and as a sedative-analgesic drug especially in countries where newer drugs are not readily available. Ketamine helps to alleviate separation anxiety. Even procedures done under regional techniques in some older children require use of sedation. Ketamine can be administered through various routes-IV, IM, intranasal etc. It can be used along with other groups of drugs like Benzodiazepines, Barbiturates, Alpha 2 agonists, Propofol etc. Thus Ketamine is a versatile drug with various indications for use in the pediatric population which will be discussed in the current chapter.