Objectives: The aim of this work is to study the effects, adverse effects and recovery time of IV mixed propofol
and ketamine (ketofol) in 3:1 ratio as a sedative analgesic in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia undergoing
bone marrow aspiration
Methods: This was a prospective, observational pilot study of twenty patients; 3-12 years with ALL requiring
sedation for BMA were included. Mixture of ketofol (3:1) was administered intravenously in a dose of 0.5 mg⁄kg at
30-second to 1-minute intervals aiming to achieve a sedation level of 3 or 4 on Ramsay scale to start the procedure.
Patient satisfaction was the primary outcome in our study. Faces pain scale-revised (FPS-R) was used to assess the
degree of analgesia. Secondary outcomes included sedation time, recovery time, adverse events and safety.
Results: 20 patients were enrolled for the study. The median dose of ketofol is 3 mg/kg of propofol and 1 mg/kg of
ketamine with no patients required extra doses. The median score on the pain faces scale was (comfortable) (1-3;
95% CI 1.08-2.92). Median recovery time was 22 minutes (16-30; 95% CI 14.08-29.32). The cardiorespiratory
adverse events were transient, tolerable and easily corrected.
Conclusion: Combination of ketamine and propofol in the same syringe in this pilot study produced effective
sedation, which is illustrated by the degree of satisfaction shown by patients. Moreover, rapid recovery and absence
of clinically significant adverse events were noticed among children requiring procedural sedation and analgesia for
bone marrow aspiration. A high recommendation of using large sample size should be considered for further
assessment and verification of our results.