Incidence of adverse events per 1000 sedations by medication used (meta-analysis)
| Etomidate | Ketamine | Ketamine/midazolam/ +/−Opioid | Ketamine/ propofol | Midazolam | Nitrous oxide or chloral hydrate | Propofol | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agitation | |||||||
| Events | 0/62 | 73/2639 | 24/598 | 11/286 | 24/119 | 35/2964 | 1/331 |
| Estimate per 1000 | 0 | 24.1 | 63.6 | 41.4 | 181.4 | 7.9 | 3.0 |
| 95% CI | 0 to 69.8 | 13.3 to 34.9 | 10.4 to 116.8 | 0 to 83.7 | 2.4 to 360.3 | 4.0 to 11.8 | 0 to 8.9 |
| I2 (%) | 0 | 70 | 84 | 48 | 94 | 16 | 0 |
| Apnoea | |||||||
| Events | 0/110 | 20/4910 | 1/108 | 7/286 | 0/50 | 0/207 | 10/544 |
| Estimate per 1000 | 0 | 5.3 | 9.3 | 34.3 | 0 | 0 | 15.0 |
| 95% CI | 0 to 40.5 | 0.4 to 10.3 | 0 to 27.3 | 0 to 96.8 | 0 to 85.2 | 0 to 21.9 | 3.2 to 26.8 |
| I2 (%) | 0 | 16 | NA | 75 | NA | NA | 15 |
| Aspiration | |||||||
| Events | 0/60 | 0/802 | 0/403 | 0/18 | 0/1918 | 0/125 | |
| Estimate per 1000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 95% CI | 0 to 72 | 0 to 5.8 | 0 to 11.4 | 0 to 206.7 | 0 to 2.4 | 0 to 35.8 | |
| I2 (%) | NA | 0 | NA | NA | 0 | NA | |
| Bradycardia | |||||||
| Events | 4/60 | 1/299 | 1/158 | 2/219 | 0/248 | 1/331 | |
| Estimate per 1000 | 66.7 | 5.7 | 9.4 | 9.1 | 0 | 3.0 | |
| 95% CI | 3.5 to 129.8 | 0 to 14.3 | 0 to 24.4 | 0 to 21.7 | 0 to 18.4 | 0 to 8.9 | |
| I2 (%) | NA | 0 | 0 | NA | 0 | 92 | |
| BVM/OA/PPV | |||||||
| Events | 0/110 | 41/5375 | 1/403 | 1/306 | 0/68 | 0/1954 | 7/544 |
| Estimate per 1000 | 0 | 6.9 | 2.5 | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 10.2 |
| 95% CI | 0 to 40.5 | 4.7 to 9.1 | 0 to 7.3 | 0 to 13.4 | 0 to 64 | 0 to 2.4 | 0 to 21.4 |
| I2 (%) | 0 | 0 | NA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Hypotension | |||||||
| Events | 1/60 | 0/505 | 1/451 | 0/219 | 1/226 | 0/248 | 9/419 |
| Estimate per 1000 | 16.7 | 0 | 1.4 | 0 | 2.7 | 0 | 37.3 |
| 95% CI | 0 to 49.1 | 0 to 9.1 | 0 to 4.8 | 0 to 8.6 | 0 to 9.4 | 0 to 18.4 | 0 to 108.5 |
| I2 (%) | NA | 0 | 0 | NA | 0 | 0 | 84 |
| Hypoxia | |||||||
| Events | 35/122 | 140/6363 | 20/791 | 8/306 | 12/480 | 4/2788 | 16/544 |
| Estimate per 1000 | 260.1 | 18.9 | 34.1 | 32.0 | 12.6 | 1.7 | 26.2 |
| 95% CI | 122.1 to 398.2 | 11.1 to 26.7 | 10.9 to 57.3 | 0 to 77.3 | 0 to 28.4 | 0.2 to 3.3 | 12.8 to 39.6 |
| I2 (%) | 65 | 64 | 56 | 59 | 57 | 0 | 0 |
| Intubation | |||||||
| Events | 0/110 | 1/5681 | 1/561 | 0/306 | 0/68 | 0/1954 | 2/456 |
| Estimate per 1000 | 0 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.3 |
| 95% CI | 0 to 40.5 | 0 to 0.8 | 0 to 5 | 0 to 14.9 | 0 to 64 | 0 to 2.4 | 0 to 11.9 |
| I2 (%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Laryngospasm | |||||||
| Events | 31/5441 | 1/453 | 1/219 | 0/18 | 0/1873 | 1/456 | |
| Estimate per 1000 | 4.2 | 1.4 | 4.6 | 0 | 0 | 3.2 | |
| 95% CI | 1.4 to 7 | 0 to 4.8 | 0 to 13.5 | 0 to 206.7 | 0 to 2.5 | 0 to 8.4 | |
| I2 (%) | 31 | 0 | NA | NA | 0 | 0 | |
| Vomiting | |||||||
| Events | 9/122 | 213/2720 | 61/1100 | 2/306 | 12/586 | 198/2804 | |
| Estimate per 1000 | 66.7 | 80.7 | 68.6 | 3.0 | 16.1 | 68 | |
| 95% CI | 22.6 to 110.8 | 57.2 to 104.1 | 36.5 to 100.7 | 0 to 9.2 | 2.5 to 29.7 | 50 to 86.1 | |
| I2 (%) | 0 | 88 | 80 | 0 | 30 | 56 | |
BVM, bag valve mask; NA, not applicable; OA, oral airway; PPV, positive pressure ventilation.