Ketamine: When Delirium and Desperation Call for a Hero.

Ketamine: When Delirium and Desperation Call for a Hero. J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother. 2019 Nov 05;:1-5 Authors: Moazam C, Hirst J, Mesarwi P, Atayee RS Abstract The use of ketamine in palliative care is becoming more common for challenging symptom management, namely cancer related pain and psychiatric conditions. However, there is much that remains unstudied and uncertain about ketamine's clinical utility. In this case we examine a young cancer patient who was struggling with challenging neuropathic pain and significant existential anguish in the setting of metastatic pancreatic cancer and delirium. Despite concerns regarding baseline delirium we successfully used ketamine to better manage neuropathic pain, decrease overall opioid need, without exacerbating the preexisting delirium. Our case highlights the benefits of ketamine for neuropathic pain control in the face of delirium. PMID: 31689170 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Journal of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy - Category: Palliative Care Tags: J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother Source Type: research