Ketamine subcutaneous continuous infusion for depressive symptoms at home: A case report beyond pain use

We present a case of a 70-year-old man with stage IV renal carcinoma and bone metastasis. The main symptoms included neuropathic pain, depression, and a persistent and severe desire for death.RESULTS: We started continuous subcutaneous infusion with morphine 30 mg and ketamine 100 mg/day. The dose of ketamine was incremented to the maximum of 250 mg/day. During the 28-day treatment, we observed an overall improvement in neuropathic pain, depressive symptoms, and other end-of-life psychological aspects of distress. Only minor psychological side effects were identified, which were controlled by using midazolam in the continuous subcutaneous infusion.SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: Some studies have already demonstrated the benefits of ketamine use in alleviating depression, using parental infusion or oral formulas, which are administered in hospice care. Our report enhances the benefit of the subcutaneous route for palliative patients cared for at home.PMID:38706299 | DOI:10.1017/S1478951524000798
Source: Palliative and Supportive Care - Category: Palliative Care Authors: Source Type: research