Ketamine is a sedative hypnotic with anesthetic and analgesic properties. Ketamine works by selectively depressing the thalamoneocortical system, non-competitively blocking N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, and having intrinsic sympathomimetic activity. Ketamine also appears to selectively interrupt association pathways in the brain producing somatesthetic sensory blockade. Ketamine is FDA-approved for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia but has also been used for procedural sedation, refractory severe pain, and acute respiratory failure in children. (6)