Postoperative sleep disturbance (PSD) refers to the disruption of sleep architecture and a deterioration in subjective sleep quality that patients experience after surgical anesthesia. PSD is one of the manifestations of perioperative brain dysfunction, which can increase postoperative pain sensitivity, the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents, and delirium, and is prone to developing into chronic sleep disorders. It is an urgent problem to be solved in the perioperative period. Ketamine is an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, and subanesthetic doses of ketamine can effectively alleviate perioperative pain, reduce the use of opioid drugs, and improve perioperative depressive mood. In recent years, research has found that ketamine and its isomer S-ketamine can effectively prevent and improve PSD. This article aims to review the research progress on the impact of ketamine and S-ketamine on postoperative sleep, providing a reference for the prevention and treatment of PSD.