Author: Aaron Lessen, M.D.

Educational Pearls

• A recent prospective observational study was performed to examine the safety of different sedation medications in the pediatric ED.
• This study included 6000 children, and looked at the rate of serious adverse events following administration of different sedatives.
• Overall, the safest drug to use was ketamine alone, with an adverse event rate of about 1%.
• Propofol, BZDs, and opiates had increased rates of adverse events.

References: https://lifeinthefastlane.com/pediatric-procedural-sedation-with-ketamine/