BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Outpatient surgery (day case surgery) is increasing. When the patients
go home on the same day, this demands safe pain relief. A reduction of morphine (opioid) use
is sought because of side effects and the dependency risk. An effective alternative to
opioids is ketamine, which lacks the side effects of opioids but provides powerful analgesic
effects.
METHOD At the start of surgery, Ketamine or placebo will be given in a vein to evaluate if
the acute pain decreases significantly. Inflammation is known to cause pain. By measuring
different proteins in the blood, the investigators want to understand how inflammation links
to the pain. Wisdom tooth surgery provides significant post-operative pain and is a widely
accepted pain model in drug studies. Patients referred for wisdom tooth surgery are asked to
participate in the study. For statistical certainty, in total 165 persons will be enrolled to
three groups. Two with active drug (different dose) and one placebo. Everyone gets local
anesthesia. The completion of the study will be done in four years. The Ethics Review Board
has approved the study.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE Effective pain relief after daily surgical procedures is important for
patient´s safety and reducing the risk of long-term pain. It is also ethically necessary for
the continued expansion of day case surgery. New knowledge of the mechanisms of pain
increases the opportunities for individual and safe pain relief. Day case surgery is
performed in all operating specialties, this might affects many patients nationally and
internationally.
Phase:
Phase 4
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Dalarna County Council, Sweden
Collaborators:
Center for Clinical Research Dalarna, Sweden Uppsala University