Comparing Ketamine and Morphine in the Treatment of Acute Fracture Pain
Status:
Terminated
Trial end date:
2017-09-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Opioid pain medications such as morphine and dilaudid are commonly used in emergency
departments to treat pain in patients. Physicians are familiar with the side effects of these
medications; the most concerning of which is slowing or stopping a patient's breathing, as
well as dangerously lowering their blood pressure. An alternative medication is ketamine.
This medication is also commonly used in the emergency department, although it is typically
used to help sedate patients for uncomfortable procedures. Ketamine has also been used for
pain control, but in a much lower dosage that does not sedate patients. When used for
analgesia, it has typically been administered in combination with opioid pain medications. To
date, there is no study that looks at the effectiveness and safety of using a low dose
ketamine alone in comparison to the use of morphine. The purpose of this study is to measure
how well low-dose ketamine treats pain compared to morphine and to look at how often serious
side effects are seen with each medication.