Propofol-ketamine technique: dissociative anesthesia for office surgery (a 5-year review of 1264 cases).

Propofol-ketamine technique is a room air, spontaneous ventilation (RASV), intravenous dissociative anesthetic technique which simulates the operating conditions of general anesthesia without the increased equipment requirements or costs. A total of 2059 procedures were performed on 1264 patients by 38 different surgeons. There were no hospital admissions for postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) or uncontrolled pain. All patients were pleased with their anesthetic and no hallucinations were reported. Cost:benefit analysis is presented as well as discussion of dissociative anesthesia being exempt from current California law (AB595).