Abstract:Objective To investigate the effect of esketamine on postoperative analgesia, stress response and serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) levels in children undergoing tonsillectomy (TE) combined with endoscopic-assisted transoral adenoidectomy (ETA).Methods 98 children with tonsil and adenoid hypertrophy from January 2023 to August 2023. They were divided into two groups randomly, with 49 cases in each group. Children in both groups received the same TE plus ETA treatment, and were given the same anesthesia induction and maintenance. The observation group was given 0.5 mg/kg of esketamine injection intravenously 20 min before the operation ended, while the control group same dose of normal saline intravenously. The operation and anesthesia recovery were observed in the two groups. The scores of the face, legs, activity, cry, consolability behavioral tool (FLACC) and pediatric anesthesia emergence delirium scale (PAED) were compared between the two groups immediately after extubation (T1), 10 min after extubation (T2), 20 min after extubation (T3), 30 min after extubation (T4) and 60 min after extubation (T5). The stress response indicators and inflammatory reaction mediators were tested at the time entering the operating room (T0) and T5 time points. And the two groups were also compared in terms of adverse reactions.Results There were no significant differences in surgical duration, extubation time, wake-up time and length of postanesthesia care unit (PACU) stay between the two groups (P > 0.05). The FLACC and PAED scores at T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 time points in observation group were lower than those of the control group, the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The serum cortisol (Cor), angiotensin Ⅱ (AngⅡ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) levels of the two groups at T5 time point were higher than those at T0 time point, the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). At T5 time point, the levels of serum Cor, AngⅡ, TNF-α and IL-1β in observation group were lower than those of the control group, the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in observation group was significantly lower than that in control group, the difference was statistically significant (8.16% and 24.49%, P < 0.05).Conclusion Application of esketamine in the operation of TE combined with ETA in children can achieve exert good sedative and analgesic outcomes, and effectively reduce the stress response and inflammatory reaction caused by surgical trauma in children.