Ketamine Treatment Options

Ketamine, an FDA approved anesthetic agent, is becoming the sedative/analgesic of choice for emergency sedation in children because it causes deep sedation with minimal respiratory depression in comparison to other available agents. However, emergence reactions are an important adverse effect of ketamine, characterized by transient changes in cognitive function, dissociation and mild schizophrenia-like symptoms. These cognitive and behavioral effects are dose-dependently induced by ketamine and other antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor. NMDA receptor hypofunction can disinhibit excitatory (cholinergic/glutamatergic) projections in key areas of the brain, and this has been proposed to explain key features of schizophrenia. Several treatments that block excessive excitatory transmitter release have also been shown to prevent cognitive and behavioral effects of ketamine-induced NMDA receptor hypofunction in humans. Alpha-2 adrenergic agonists, which can presynaptically inhibit acetylcholine release, can prevent mild ketamine-induced behavioral and cognitive symptoms in healthy human adults. However, this prevention strategy has not been evaluated in children. Children currently receive clinically-indicated treatment with the NMDA antagonist, ketamine, and this age group is an important target for pharmacological strategies aimed at the prevention of schizophrenia. This application proposes a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial to test the safety and effectiveness of dexmedetomidine, an FDA approved alpha-2 adrenergic agonist, in preventing ketamine-induced mental symptoms in children. Planned primary analyses will evaluate effects of the hypothesized prevention treatment on clinical and cognitive variables using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The proposed experiments are relevant to future prevention trials for individuals at risk for schizophrenia, and to preventing adverse effects of NMDA antagonist anesthetic agents (ketamine, nitrous oxide). Read Less

The purpose of this study is to: 1. Establish whether ketamine can decrease opioid consumption and modulate the onset of opioid tolerance and prevent opioid-induced hyperalgesia in pediatric subjects, ages 10 years to 18 years, undergoing posterior spinal fusion and instrumentation. Read Less

Burn-related pain is severe and often difficult to manage. Healthcare workers struggle with keeping burn patients comfortable, especially when these patients undergo dressing changes of their burn wounds of their skin since these procedures often cause severe pain. Patients with burn wounds frequently require high doses of opioids (narcotics) and calming (anxiolytic) agents to the extent that clinicians must weigh the risks associated with these doses against achieving adequate analgesia and comfort. The biggest risk is over-sedation to cause breathing troubles. Inadequate pain control during these procedures heightens pain perception, anxiety, and fear surrounding the experience and may lead to patients experiencing additional psychological disorders like depression, acute stress disorder (ASD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, therapeutic options for better management of pain and anxiety during these procedures need to be identified. This study will address whether the addition of ketamine during dressing changes improves patients' pain control and comfort and whether this leads to favorable psychological outcomes. The study is designed to compare ketamine with placebo when they are added to usual care (opioids and anxiolytics) during dressing changes. The main outcomes of the study will be the amount of opioid and anxiolytic agents each group receives during their procedure; the presence of pain-related anxiety shortly after the procedures; blood markers of stress during the procedures; and the presence of depression, anxiety and stress disorders prior to discharge. This study will assess whether the early administration of ketamine reduces pain and anxiety to prevent the need for high doses of opioids and anxiolytics. A total of 30 patients will be enrolled. Read Less

RATIONALE: Topical cream containing amitriptyline and ketamine may help relieve pain, numbness, tingling, and other symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. It is not yet known whether topical amitriptyline and ketamine cream is more effective than a placebo in treating peripheral neuropathy caused by chemotherapy. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying the side effects and how well topical amitriptyline and ketamine cream work compared with a placebo in treating peripheral neuropathy caused by chemotherapy in patients with cancer. Read Less

Hypothesis: The intraoperative administration of ketamine will result in a 30% reduction in opiate requirement following endometrial ablation surgery and the intraoperative administration of ketamine will result in a decreased time to meet discharge criteria in the PACU following endometrial ablation surgery. The research question is "Does intraoperative administration of ketamine result in decreased postoperative opiate requirement and time to discharge from the postanesthesia recovery unit (PACU) following hysteroscopic endometrial ablation". Read Less

This will be a randomized trial of propofol versus the combination of propofol and ketamine for procedural sedation for procedures in the Emergency Department (ED). Propofol produces sedation, hypnosis, and dense amnesia, and is commonly used in the ED at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) for procedural sedation. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that is also frequently used in the ED in children and sometimes in adults. It has been proposed that by combining the two agents, the negative side effects of respiratory depression and hypotension associated with propofol, and the negative effects of dysphoria and vomiting associated with ketamine, can be avoided. In the proposed study, patients seen in the ED who will require procedural sedation for a painful procedure will be randomized to receive either propofol or propofol and ketamine. During the procedure, patients will be monitored per the standard of care, including use of a cardiac monitor, non-invasive blood pressure monitoring, pulse oximetry, nasal sample end-tidal carbon dioxide, and physician assessment. Once the procedure is successfully completed and the patient has returned to his/her baseline mental status, the patient will be asked to mark a 100 mm visual analog scale regarding perceived pain during the procedure, memory of the procedure, and overall satisfaction with the procedure. Read Less

This project is a pilot study to evaluate the analgesic and opioid-sparing effects of ketamine in an ultra-low dose oral formulation as a novel intervention for treatment of chronic non-cancer pain in opioid-tolerant patients in the primary care outpatient setting. Read Less

This study tests the hypothesis that extrasynaptic mechanisms are critically linked with cognitive effects of NMDA antagonism as evidenced by event-related potentials (ERPs) in healthy humans. Read Less

This study is a prospective, double-blind, randomized comparison study of different anesthesia methods in rhytidoplasty surgery. The study is designed to determine whether post-operative side-effect profiles in patients undergoing elective cosmetic facelift surgery can be decreased through the use of propofol/ketamine anesthesia with bispectral monitoring (PKA-BIS) rather than general anesthesia, without increasing intra-operative time, side-effect profiles, or patient recall. Approximately 30 subjects undergoing facelift surgery performed by the principal investigator will participate. Read Less

The purpose of the study is to test two different doses of ketamine sub-lingual (under the tongue) wafer against placebo to see how effective the medication is to treat moderate to severe pain after wisdom tooth extraction. Read Less

The objective of this double-blinded placebo-controlled pilot study is to determine whether a single sub-anesthetic rapid IV bolus dose of ketamine administered to acutely depressed patients with or without suicidality has a significant rapid antidepressant effect in the acutely depressed population. The study will pursue as a primary outcome measure whether a significant reduction in depressive symptoms, as assessed by the BSS and BHS, occurs shortly after administration of ketamine at 40, 80, 120, and 240 minutes. A secondary outcome measure will be assessed to determine whether this single infusion of ketamine has a sustained reduction in depressive symptoms within 2-weeks post-infusion with a reduction in BDI score. Suicidal ideation will also be assessed for determination of any reduction and sustained reduction post infusion by assessment of the Beck Suicidal Ideation Scale (BSS), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at similar intervals. Read Less

This is an interventional study on Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients who will be receiving sedation for a muscle biopsy as part of another study. Read Less