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Ketamine Use in the Surgical Patient: a Literature Review

  • Acute Pain Medicine (R Urman, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Pain and Headache Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

While ketamine is an established anesthetic, its role in the management of acute surgical pain is less certain. Therefore, a literature review is warranted to examine the role of ketamine in acute pain management.

Recent Findings

The use of ketamine appears to be most efficacious in larger procedures that lead to increased systemic inflammation or extensive tissue damage. In addition, ketamine seems to be most successful when administered consistently throughout a procedure, such as by an infusion instead of a single bolus, in order to have adequate dosing for an analgesic effect.

Summary

Therefore, the focus of research should be on procedures that lead to moderate to severe pain using frequent dosing to determine the most effective role of ketamine. Most importantly, the current literature shows that ketamine can be used as a successful part of multimodal anesthesia with few side effects in patients undergoing major procedures associated with moderate to severe pain.

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Data Availability

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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  1. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX, 75390-9068, USA

    Tiffany S. Moon & Katelynn M. Smith

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  1. Tiffany S. Moon
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Correspondence to Tiffany S. Moon.

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Tiffany Moon, MD, receives grant funding and honoraria from Merck and MDoloris. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

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Moon, T.S., Smith, K.M. Ketamine Use in the Surgical Patient: a Literature Review. Curr Pain Headache Rep 25, 17 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-020-00930-3

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