Open AccessOutcome of Intravenous Ketamine Infusion Assessed Using the SF‐36 Health Survey
Author(s) -
Jeffreys A,
Woods J
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2007.00385_9.x
Subject(s) - medicine , ketamine , anesthesia , visual analogue scale , interquartile range , prospective cohort study , surgery
Figure 1Outcomes following infusion at 4 weeks and 6 months—Group mean scoresPurpose of the study: A prospective before and after audit to assess the outcome following ketamine infusions for chronic pain at 4 weeks and 6 months following treatment. Methods: After ethics committee approval data relating to demographics, pain scores and SF‐36 Health surveys were collected pre, 4 weeks post and 6 months post infusion for all patients admitted for inpatient ketamine infusions over a 12‐month period. All numerical data were analysed using Wilcoxon's Signed Ranks test. Differences were considered significant at P < 0.05. Results: • 14 patients (10 female, 4 male: median age 35 years, range 25–65 years). Low back pain (n = 8), CRPS upper limb (n = 2), CRPS lower limb (n = 1), neck pain (n = 1), shoulder pain (n = 1), pelvic pain (n = 1). • 14 patients were followed up at 4 weeks, one lost to follow‐up at 6 months. • Median infusion duration of 6 days (range 3–10 days). • Maximum infusion rate—median of 20 mg/hour (range 12–32 mg/hour). • One infusion terminated due to dysphoric side effects. • VAS (visual analogue score)—decreased a median 63% (range 0–100%) or median 4/10 (95% CI 2/10–6/10) by the conclusion of the infusion. • Average weekly VAS prior to infusion had decreased by 20% (range 0–80%) or a median of 2.5/10 (95% CI 1/10–4/10) at 4 weeks post infusion. • Average VAS had decreased by a median 10% at 6 months (range 0–71%) which was not significant.Conclusions: This small heterogeneous group of chronic pain patients demonstrated baseline SF‐36 scores 1.5–2 standard deviations below the US population mean of 50 across all scales, indicating disabling global ill health. Ketamine infusions were generally well tolerated and produced significant reductions in reported pain scores by the end of treatment. Pain reduction had diminished by 4 weeks, however there remained a significant improvement in several scales particularly those relating to mental health. This raises the possibility that ketamine may exert a short to medium term anti‐depressant effect. There was no significant improvement in any measure at 6 months.