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Outpatient intravenous ketamine for the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome: a double-blind placebo controlled study
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Outpatient intravenous ketamine for the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome: a double-blind placebo controlled study

Robert J Schwartzman, Guillermo M Alexander, John R Grothusen, Terry Paylor, Erin Reichenberger and Marielle Perreault
Pain (Amsterdam), v 147(1-3)
15 Dec 2009
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2009.08.015
PMID: 19783371
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Adult Analgesics - administration & dosage Analysis of Variance Complex Regional Pain Syndromes - drug therapy Double-Blind Method Drug Administration Schedule Female Follow-Up Studies Humans Injections, Intravenous - methods Ketamine - administration & dosage Male Middle Aged Outpatients Pain Measurement Pain Threshold Statistics, Nonparametric
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a severe chronic pain condition that most often develops following trauma. The pathophysiology of CRPS is not known but both clinical and experimental evidence demonstrate the important of the NMDA receptor and glial activation in its induction and maintenance. Ketamine is the most potent clinically available safe NMDA antagonist that has a well established role in the treatment of acute and chronic pain. This randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of intravenous ketamine in the treatment of CRPS. Before treatment, after informed consent was obtained, each subject was randomized into a ketamine or a placebo infusion group. Study subjects were evaluated for at least 2 weeks prior to treatment and for 3 months following treatment. All subjects were infused intravenously with normal saline with or without ketamine for 4h (25ml/h) daily for 10 days. The maximum ketamine infusion rate was 0.35mg/kg/h, not to exceed 25mg/h over a 4h period. Subjects in both the ketamine and placebo groups were administered clonidine and versed. This study showed that intravenous ketamine administered in an outpatient setting resulted in statistically significant (p<0.05) reductions in many pain parameters. It also showed that subjects in our placebo group demonstrated no treatment effect in any parameter. The results of this study warrant a larger randomized placebo controlled trial using higher doses of ketamine and a longer follow-up period.

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Web of Science research areas
Anesthesiology
Clinical Neurology
Neurosciences
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