The utility of ketamine in facilitating the induction of isoproterenol-refractory idiopathic ventricular tachyarrhythmias

Management of anesthesia for procedures in the cardiac electrophysiology laboratory

The complexity of cardiac electrophysiology procedures has increased significantly during the past 3 decades. Anesthesia requirements of these procedures can differ on the basis of patient- and procedure-specific factors. This manuscript outlines various anesthesia strategies for cardiac implantable electronic devices and electrophysiology procedures, including preprocedural, procedural, and postprocedural management. A team-based approach with collaboration between cardiac electrophysiologists and anesthesiologists is required with careful preprocedural and intraprocedural planning. Given the recent advances in electrophysiology, there is a need for specialized cardiac electrophysiology anesthesia care to improve the efficacy and safety of the procedures.

Ventricular tachycardia after ketamine sedation for fracture reduction

This case report describes a 10-year-old female patient who underwent ketamine sedation for fracture reduction and experienced asymptomatic ventricular tachycardia after the sedation. She had no history of syncope, chest pain, palpations, or light-headedness and had a normal physical examination. This is the first reported case of a patient experiencing ventricular tachycardia after ketamine use for sedation. This case demonstrates a serious and potentially harmful possible adverse effect of ketamine administration.