Subanesthetic ketamine in the ambulatory setting for refractory cancer pain: a 6-year retrospective at a cancer center

Abstract

Pain is common in advanced cancer is often refractory to standard treatment. Ketamine has shown promise as an effective adjuvant despite conflicting reports. The aim of this retrospective was to analyze the efficacy of subanesthetic ketamine infusion in the ambulatory setting over an extended follow-up period of 3 months for symptoms related to refractory cancer pain. Forty seven patients treated with intravenous ketamine infusion for refractory cancer pain at a tertiary referral cancer center. Patients demonstrated improvement from baseline in worst, mean, current and least pain immediately after treatment (p < 0.05), worst pain 1 month after treatment (p = 0.003), and current pain (p = 0.036) and worst pain (p = 0.002) 3 months after treatment. Symptoms of quality of life were followed 1 month after treatment.