Ketamine Treatment Options in Boston, MA

This is a pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial of individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) with suicidal ideation in the emergency department (ED) to receive either a single infusion of ketamine 0.8mg/kg (n=25) or saline placebo (n=25). The primary aim is to evaluate the safety of the ketamine treatment. The secondary aim is to determine the preliminary efficacy of opioid- and suicide-related outcomes. Read Less

Aim 1: To determine the effectiveness of perioperatively administered ketamine to decrease acute and persistent postmastectomy pain (PPMP). Hypothesis 1.1: Patients undergoing partial or total mastectomy treated with a bolus and perioperative infusion of the NMDA-receptor antagonist ketamine will have decreased postoperative pain and opioid utilization compared to those receiving saline control. Hypothesis 1.2: Patients undergoing partial or total mastectomy treated with a bolus and perioperative infusion of the NMDA-receptor antagonist ketamine will have decreased persistent postoperative pain measured at one year after surgery. Aim 2: To determine whether there is increased power to detect therapeutic effectiveness in an interventional preventive trial, by enrichment with patients at high risk of PPMP. Hypothesis 2.1: Ketamine will have a greater analgesic and opioid sparing effect on pain scores in high-risk patients than non-high risk patients, compared to placebo. Hypothesis 2.2: Ketamine will have a greater preventive effect on pain burden scores at one year after surgery in high-risk patients than non-high risk patients, compared to placebo. Read Less

This is an open-label, parallel-group, randomized clinical trial of up to 6 months treatment of adjunctive intranasal (IN) esketamine (ESK) vs. adjunctive aripiprazole (ARI) in Veterans with unipolar Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD). This study will assess the efficacy, safety, and acceptability of adjunctive IN ESK in comparison to ARI, one of the best studied and most widely used adjunctive therapies for TRD. The primary hypothesis is that participants receiving adjunctive IN ESK will be significantly more likely to achieve remission after six weeks of treatment as compared to those who receive adjunctive ARI. Depressive symptoms will be assessed by central raters (CR), blinded to treatment assignment, using the clinician rated version of the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-C16), a well-validated tool that is commonly used and is easily translated across other depression inventory scales. The study is powered to detect an absolute difference in remission rates of 10%, or larger, at 6 weeks. Additional outcomes of interest include symptom reduction across 6 months of randomized therapy, side effects and other tolerability indices, attrition rates and measures of quality of life and cost-effectiveness. Read Less

This randomized controlled pilot clinical trial will enroll patients undergoing dynamic flexible bronchoscopy will be randomized to receive one of the two anesthetic combinations described above. The study will determine if there is a difference when considering patient and physician and satisfaction when performing DFB. Also, safety and efficacy of the two pharmacological combinations (fentanyl + midazolam and remifentanil + ketamine) used will be evaluated. Read Less

Impairment of airway patency is a common cause of extubation failure and opioids and hypnotics can adversely affect airway patency. Ketamine, a noncompetitive antagonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), unlike other anesthetics activates respiratory effort and promotes bronchodilation. At subanesthetic plasma concentration, ketamine reduces both opioid and propofol requirements. The purpose of this pharmaco-physiological interaction trial is to evaluate the effects of ketamine on breathing and electroencephalography in mechanically ventilated patients. Read Less

The goal of this study to evaluate whether eliminating the use of non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBA) for maintenance of general anesthesia reduces postoperative pulmonary complications in higher risk patients. Read Less

The study will consist of a 24-week-long trial examining outcomes in patients with Major Depressive Disorder and suicidal ideation who will receive intravenous (IV) ketamine and intranasal (IN) esketamine, compared to a large sample of matched historical controls. Patients will be recruited from an inpatient psychiatric unit. Eligible patients who provided informed consent will be enrolled in the study that will include a eight IV ketamine treatments, 13 esketamine treatment visits, seven long assessment visits, five short assessment visits, and daily surveys. The study will examine the feasibility, tolerability, and efficacy of repeated IV ketamine followed by esketamine, as well as predictors of treatment response. Read Less

The main purpose of this study is to determine whether a rational strategy of EEG guided multimodal general anesthesia using target specific sedative and analgesics could result in enhanced recovery after anesthesia and surgery, decrease in postoperative delirium, and decrease in long term postoperative cognitive dysfunction up to 6 months following cardiac surgery. Read Less

We are doing this research study to find out how and where ketamine acts in the brain. Ketamine is an anesthetic (a drug or agent used to decrease or eliminate the feeling of pain by putting you in an unconscious state). We will look at the brain using a machine that records the brain's electrical activity, called an electroencephalogram (EEG). We will assess how it impacts patient's pain responses. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to compare pain threshold, pain tolerance, and wind up, as measured by QST, before and after a single dose of ketamine infusion under two clinical conditions: chronic pain patients on opioid therapy and chronic pain patients without opioid therapy. Read Less

This is a multi-site, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the acute efficacy of brexpiprazole or placebo in combination with intranasal ketamine added to ongoing, stable, and adequate antidepressant therapy (ADT) in the treatment of adults with Major Depressive Disorder with Treatment Resistant Depression. Read Less

The investigators are performing this research study to find out how and where the anesthetic drugs sevoflurane and ketamine act in the brain. Sevoflurane and ketamine are anesthetics (a drug or agent used to decrease or eliminate the feeling of pain by causing unconsciousness). The investigators will study the brain using a machine that records the brain's electrical activity, called an electroencephalogram (EEG). Read Less