None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The benefits of an existing inpatient treatment regimen involving ketamine infusion for the purpose of pain desensitisation/opioid detoxification will be documented. A sample of approximately 40 female chronic pain patients with either multiple sclerosis (n=20) or complex regional pain (n=20) will be evaluated before and after a 5-day inpatient ketamine infusion procedure (termed “Burst Ketamine”). The procedure itself involves the patient receiving an intravenous infusion of ketamine, administered within a subanaesthetic dose range, whilst an opioid is concurrently given. The endpoints of interest include patient pain thresholds (evaluating the degree of hypersensitivity/allodynia before and after the ketamine protocol), sensitivity to opioid analgesia, quality of life measures, mental health assessment, sleep quality and cognitive processing measures. Additionally, these endpoints will also be assessed in healthy female volunteer participants (n=20) to provide normative comparisons for which the pain patients can be compared against. Collectively, the pre- and post-treatment measures will enable us to determine whether: 1) ketamine therapy increases pain thresholds in patients, 2) ketamine therapy normalises sensitivity to opioids, 3) quality of life, mental health, sleep quality and cognitive measures improve subsequent to ketamine therapy.
Interventions
i) Chronic Pain Group
Female patients with either Multiple Sclerosis or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome will be prescribed "Burst Ketamine" as part of their normal patient care programme. This treatment is a five-day inpatient procedure, in which ketamine is administered intravenously (or subcutaneously when IV route has failed) at a sub-anaesthetic dose (~7-40mg/hr), whilst an opioid (e.g. 10 mg oxycontin) is concurrently given. The aim of this project (an open label prospective audit) is to d
i) Chronic Pain Group Female patients with either Multiple Sclerosis or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome will be prescribed "Burst Ketamine" as part of their normal patient care programme. This treatment is a five-day inpatient procedure, in which ketamine is administered intravenously (or subcutaneously when IV route has failed) at a sub-anaesthetic dose (~7-40mg/hr), whilst an opioid (e.g. 10 mg oxycontin) is concurrently given. The aim of this project (an open label prospective audit) is to document the use of this treatment by assessing responsiveness to pain, as well as aspects fundamental to quality of life (e.g. mood, anxiety, sleep quality, cognition) both 1 week prior to “Burst Ketamine”, as well as during a 12 week follow-up. ii) Normative Comparison Control Group A separate sample of female control participants, who don’t have chronic pain, will be recruited to provide normative data along each measure of interest. These participants will not be required to undergo the “Burst Ketamine” procedure, however will complete all assessments relating to pain, mood, anxiety, sleep quality, and cognition.
Sponsors
Monash University
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Primary purpose
Treatment
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Negative pregnancy test at start of experiment Female Multiple Sclerosis or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Exclusion criteria
Allergy to ketamine History of moderate-to-severe brain injury, alcohol abuse.
Outcome results
None listed