outlet: Drugs.com  

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 17, 2025 — Use of ketamine to induce anesthesia does not result in lower in-hospital death by day 28 compared with etomidate among critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation, according to a study published online Dec. 9 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Jonathan D. Casey, M.D., from the Vanderbilt Health in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial in 14 emergency departments and intensive care units in the United States involving critically ill adults who were undergoing tracheal intubation. Participants were randomly assigned to receive ketamine or etomidate for induction of anesthesia (1,176 and 1,189 participants, respectively).