In what practices is it preferable to use ketamine over tiletamine-zolazepam?

• A. Practices that rely on tiletamine-zolazepam
• B. Practices that don't need or want to carry tiletamine-zolazepam
• C. Practices that avoid injections
• D. Practices requiring inhaled anesthetics

Answer: (B)

The main idea is inventory flexibility and tailoring anesthesia to the practice’s needs. Ketamine is a single-agent drug you can stock and use in a modular way, which is advantageous for clinics that don’t want to carry tiletamine-zolazepam (Telazol). Because ketamine can be used alone or combined with other drugs (benzodiazepines, alpha-2 agonists, etc.), you can adjust dosing and effects to each patient and procedure without being tied to a fixed mix. In contrast, Telazol is a fixed combination that provides both dissociative anesthesia and sedation in a set ratio, which limits how you can tailor the depth and duration of anesthesia for different cases. For practices that want simpler inventory, cost efficiency, and more control over pharmacodynamics, ketamine fits best.

This isn’t about avoiding injections or about exclusively using inhaled anesthetics. Those factors are less central to why ketamine would be preferred when Telazol isn’t desired.