Ketamine For Acute Treatment of Pain in Emergency Department
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2015-11-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The aim of the study is to compare the safety & efficacy of low dose ketamine and morphine
versus morphine alone for acute generalized pain in the Emergency Department (ED). The
investigators are also interested to investigate whether low-dose ketamine is a safe and
effective alternative option to opioids for the acute treatment of pain in the Emergency
Department.
The agents that are available in the department includes acetaminophen, non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory (NSAIDS) and opioids. In most cases, acetaminophen and NSAIDS are not
adequate to manage acute pain crisis. There is also heightening concerns for increased opioid
use or abuse by patients. Since the HCAPHS survey includes various questions which inquires
about patient perception of pain management in the department, the investigators are
interested in investigating the safety and efficacy of low-dose ketamine to as an alternative
method to opioids for the acute management of pain. There has been limited, mostly
observational pilot studies, published in the literature. Limited data in the literature have
reported the incidence of nausea and vomiting ranged from 3-13%. All published literature
administered low-dose ketamine as an intravenous push. To the best of our knowledge our study
would be the first study to administer low-dose ketamine as a short bolus infusion to
mitigate the incidence of nausea and vomiting. The investigators believe our study would
provide important scientific data to fill the theoretical gap that low-dose ketamine at
0.3mg/kg/dose may be a safe and effective agent for acute pain management in an ED that is
located in the center of a densely populated urban area.