A lower dose of ketamine is as effective as the usual dose for treating pain in adults

A recent Loyola Medicine study found that reducing the usual dose of IV-administered ketamine in half is as effective as the maximum normal dose in reducing pain in adults.

Ketamine is known to provide pain relief similar to opioid medications, which are highly addictive. In the recent study, featured in the magazine Academic Emergency Medicine, researchers studied 98 patients, ages 18 to 59, who were referred to the emergency department with severe, moderate to severe pain.

The patients were randomized to receive either 0.15 mg / kg of ketamine (low dose) or 0.30 mg / kg (high dose). Patients and providers were blinded to dose, with the main pain outcome measured at the 11-point numerical rating scale (NRS) at 30 min. At 15 min, the high-dose group had a greater reduction in pain on the NRS but more severe events. At 30 minutes, severe events and pain were similar.

Overall, patients generally reported taking ketamine again for pain – 75.6% in the low-dose group and 61.7% in the high-dose group.

“We challenged the usual dose of ketamine used to treat pain,” said lead study author Shannon Lovett, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC) and an associate professor in the Department of Medicine Emergency at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. . “Our study should help confirm that a lower dose is sufficient to treat pain.”

The study found no significant reduction in side effects from the lowest dose.

“As we continue our research, we hope to find data that supports reduced effects with the lowest dose of ketamine with similar efficacy in treating pain,” said a senior author. the study Megan A. Rech, clinical pharmacist of emergency medicine at LUMC and associate associate professor and research coordinator at Stritch.