To depress their level of consicousness with any medications and not protect their airway with an endotracheal tube increases this risk. To use a sedative such as ketamine which increases oral secretions would increase the risk of aspiration even further. Ketamine is frequently associated with emergence delirium, irrational behavior, and hallucinations. Take a look at the bold capital type in the PDR under Ketamine to find out more. I have a fun question for you Dr. Moran.
Ketamine produces dissociative anesthesia only if it is used in general anesthesia doses.
When used in low doses, it is a sedative. The issue of airway reflexes should be evaluated carefully when using ketamine. Sure the PDR states that ketamine leaves airway reflexes intact. I have said this before and I am going to say it again, the public should be very concerned about non-anesthetists using drugs that are considered anesthetics. Consistently, statements are made that these drugs should not be used by medical professionals who are not trained in the delivery of anesthetics and airway management.