Comparing the effects of propofol and ketamine on the emergence agitation of male children undergoing circumcision

Background
Separation from the family, prolonged hunger, inability to perceive the surgical procedure performed, and feeling pain are among the main reasons for agitation in young children. In operations like circumcision, in which all bodily integrity is disrupted and children cannot make sense of it and feel punished, this agitation increases. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of propofol and ketamine on the emergence agitation (EA) in children undergoing circumcision.
Result
When the patients were taken to post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), no statistically significant difference was observed between propofol and ketamine groups in the Aono’s four-point scale at minute 0 ( = 0.073). In the 5th minute, it was higher in the ketamine group compared to the propofol group ( < 0.001). With Aono’s four-point scale, EA diagnosis is made in areas with 3 and 4 points. The average Aono’s four-point scale in the ketamine group at the 5th minute was 3.08 ± 1.02. Since the Modified Steward score was ≥ 6, the time taken was longer in the ketamine group compared to the propofol group ( < 0.001).
Conclusion
EA does not only occur in inhalational anesthetics, it is also seen with ketamine. In view of the fact that ketamine can cause EA in children, it should not be used alone in anesthesia. Propofol provides a safe anesthesia. Instead of inhalational anesthesia, where the type of surgery is suitable, anesthesia with propofol infusion should be applied. Further research is required to investigate EA.