National opioid shortage is associated with increased use of ketamine infusion for analgosedation in the medical intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the impact of the national shortage of injectable opioids during the winter of 2017-2018 on the use of ketamine infusion for analgosedation in the medical intensive care unit (MICU).

DESIGN

A retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Single-center tertiary care MICU at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

PATIENTS: All patients who received continuous infusion of ketamine to facilitate mechanical ventilation between May 1, 2015 and September 1, 2018.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN

RESULTS

Seventy-seven patients were identified during the study time frame: 43 before and 19 during the opioid shortage. During the peak of the shortage, there was a sevenfold increase in orders for ketamine infusion (2.2 patients/week vs 0.32 patients/week; p < 0.001). Median time from the start of mechanical ventilation to initiation of ketamine infusion was significantly shorter during the shortage (14.1 hours) versus before (51.2 hours; p = 0.03). There was a trend toward adding ketamine into the sedation regimen earlier during the shortage (mean number of drips added prior to ketamine was 2.74 during the shortage vs 3.3 before; p = 0.06). There was also a trend toward increased use of ketamine infusion as monotherapy during (21.1 percent of patients) versus before the shortage (7 percent), though this did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.19).

CONCLUSION

The national opioid shortage may have led to earlier and more frequent use of ketamine infusion for anaglosedation in mechanically ventilated MICU patients.