The Effect of Ketamine Infusion in the Treatment of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: a Systemic Review and Meta-analysis

AbstractPurpose of ReviewComplex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a painful debilitating neurological condition that accounts for approximately 1.2% of adult chronic pain population. Ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, is an anesthetic agent that has been used by some pain specialists for CRPS. There is a growing body of clinical evidence to support the use of ketamine in the treatment of neuropathic pain, especially CRPS. This meta-analysis study was aimed to examine the efficacy of ketamine in the treatment of CRPS.Recent FindingsA search of Embase, Pubmed, Web of Knowledge, Cochrane, ClinicalTrial.gov, andFDA.gov between Jan 1, 1950, and August 1, 2017, was conducted to evaluate ketamine infusion therapy in the treatment of CRPS. We selected randomized clinical trials or cohort studies for meta-analyses.I2 index estimates were calculated to test for variability and heterogeneity across the included studies. The primary outcome is pain relief. The effect of ketamine treatment for complex regional pain syndrome was assessed by 0 –10 scale numerical rating pain score. The secondary outcome is the pain relief event rate, which is defined as the percentage of participants who achieved 30% or higher pain relief in each of the qualified studies. Our meta-analysis results showed that the Ketamine treatment led to a decreased me an of pain score in comparison to the self-controlled baseline (p <  0.000001). However, there is a statistical significance of between-study h...
Source: Current Pain and Headache Reports - Category: Neurology Source Type: research