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Dreams and ability to recall: Comparison between propofol and ketamine in patients undergoing surgery under IVA

Maya Lama, Rohini Sigdel, Sanish Gurung, Sushil Timilsina

Medical Journal of Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences June 4, 2018 DOI: 10.3126/mjpahs.v1i1.22451 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed
Sample size 69
Population Patients aged 18 to 60 years scheduled for short procedures lasting 5 to 25 minutes under intravenous anaesthesia
Interventions Propofol Ketamine Midazolam Fentanyl
Topics Dreaming Esketamine Ketamine
Citations 4
Key findings Dreaming during intravenous anaesthesia was significantly more frequent with ketamine (23 of 34 patients, 67.65%) than with propofol (7 of 35 patients, 20%). Dream recall among dreamers was also more common in the ketamine group (6 patients) than the propofol group (1 patient).

Abstract

Background: Dreaming during anaesthesia is a common phenomenon. Dreams can occur with both inhalational agents as well as intravenous agents (IVA) like propofol and ketamine. But there are concerns like patient awareness, dreams and other untoward effects that may be associated with IVA. We have conducted this study to quantify the incidence of dreaming during IVA with propofol or ketamine.

Methods: Sixty-nine patients aged 18 to 60 years scheduled for short procedures lasting from 5 to 25 minutes under IVA were randomized into two groups – group propofol or group ketamine. All the patients received midazolam and fentanyl intravenously. Then, patients in group propofol received propofol and those in ketamine group received ketamine for induction and maintenance of anaesthesia. After the end of surgery, when the patient were fully recovered from anaesthesia, patients were interviewed about occurrence of dreams and their ability to recall the dreams.

Results: There were 35 patients in group propofol and 34 patients in group ketamine. The incidence of dreaming during anaesthesia was greater in patients of ketamine group, 23 (67.65%), when compared to propofol group, 7 (20%) (p < 0.001). Among the dreamers, 6 patients in the ketamine group and only 1 patient in the propofol group were able to recall their dream.

Conclusion: Dreaming is quite common during IVA for short surgical procedure, more so following ketamine than propofol anaesthesia.

Comparable studies

Other randomized controlled trials on ketamine, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Subanesthetic Effects of the Noncompetitive NMDA Antagonist, Ketamine, in Humans Healthy human subjects recruited from the community 1994 Randomized controlled trial n = 19
Antidepressant Efficacy of Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression: A Two-Site Randomized Controlled Trial Patients with treatment-resistant major depression experiencing a major depressive episode 2013 Randomized controlled trial n = 73
Remifentanil-induced Postoperative Hyperalgesia and Its Prevention with Small-dose Ketamine Patients undergoing major abdominal surgery 2005 Randomized controlled trial n = 75
Efficacy of Intravenous Ketamine for Treatment of Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Patients with chronic PTSD related to a range of trauma exposures 2014 Randomized controlled trial n = 41
Ketamine-Induced Deficits in Auditory and Visual Context-Dependent Processing in Healthy Volunteers Healthy volunteers 2000 Single-blind placebo-controlled study n = 20

Citations in the library

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Dreaming Esketamine Ketamine