Esketamine vs Control in Bariatric Surgery Patients

Methods: We enrolled 68 patients between the ages of 18 and 50 who were planned to have bariatric surgery and had a Body Mass Index of less than 27 kg/m2 and an American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status of I to III. They were split into the Control Group and the Esketamine Group. During the procedure, the latter group also received various anesthetic medications along with a loading dosage of esketamine of 0.2 mg/kg and a maintenance dose of 0.2 mg/(kg.h). The former group was given a placebo. While other surgical data was being recorded throughout the surgery, they were evaluated for NRS pain scores and PONV scores afterward.
Results: The 0.5h, 1h, 2h, 6h, and 12h NRS scores in the esketamine group were significantly lower than those in the control group. There was also a significant overall decrease in the highest and lowest NRS scores (p0.05), as well as a decrease in the number of extra painkillers given to the esketamine group. However, the opioid medication utilized post-operatively did not differ significantly from the control group (p>0.05).