Effect of intraoperative single administration of sub-anesthesia ketamine on breast cancer patients with depression

Objective: To observe the effect of single administration of sub anesthesia ketamine on breast cancer patients with depression. Methods: Fifty breast cancer patients with depression (Hamilton depression scale, HAMD score ≥ 17) selecting modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer were randomly divided into ketamine group and control group. Each group has 25 cases. One hour after the induction of general anesthesia, ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) and isofibrillar saline were infused intravenously within 10 min respectively. HAMD was used to assess the depression status at 1 day before operation and 1, 3 and 7 days after operation. The Social Support Scale (SSRS) was performed 1 day before operation and 7 days after operation. Visual Analogue Scale/Score (VAS) scores were used to evaluate the pain status at 1, 3 and 7 days after operation. The time of surgery, the time of extubation, the use of vasoactive drugs, the situation and the recovery period and postoperative adverse reaction were recorded. Results: There were no significant differences among the scores of SSRS, VAS and HAMD between the two groups or intra-group before operation (P>0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups after operation (P>0.05), indicating that ketamine significantly improved depression symptoms of breast cancer patients with depression in the first three days postoperatively; The HAMD score of the ketamine group was still lower than that of the control group at 7 days after operation, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Compared with preoperative group, there was no significant difference in the HAMD score of the control group on the first day after operation (P>0.05). Conclusions: Intraoperative single administration of sub-anesthesia ketamine significantly may have an effect on postoperative breast cancer patients with depression. But the effect may decrease along with the time.