Ketamine Compared with Fentanyl for Surgical Abortion: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

adequate anesthesia. We chose this patient-centered outcome, because we know patients who undergo abortion are generally satisfied with their care. 2 More recent studies have recommended patient-centered outcomes as a more accurate measure of patient experience during an abortion procedure; thus, we feel this was an appropriate measurement. 3 The duration of the intervention was the duration of the abortion procedure, which typically lasts 10 minutes or less. We decided to assess satisfaction both immediately after the procedure as well as on postoperative day 1 to see whether there were any differences between the groups at both time points; we found no significant differences. We allowed anesthetists to provide rescue medications of their choosing as per clinic standard. As much as possible, we kept patient treatment during our study similar to standard clinic practice because we wanted to look at real-world use of both of these medications.