Clinical Uses of Low – Dose Ketamine in Patients Undergoing Surgery

Title: Clinical Uses of Low – Dose Ketamine in Patients Undergoing Surgery

Volume: 10 Issue: 8

Author(s): M. Berti, M. Baciarello, R. Troglio and G. Fanelli

Affiliation:

Keywords: Ketamine, analgesia, perioperative care, pain, postoperative, analgesics, non-narcotic

Abstract: Ketamine acts mainly as a N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAr) antagonist. Originally developed as a general anesthetic, it is now seldom employed as such in richer countries due to the relatively high risk of psychotomimetic adverse effects. Recently, low – dose regimens in the range of 0.25 – 0.5 mg/kg as an initial bolus followed by 50 – 500 μg/kg/h have been proposed as an adjuvant for postoperative analgesia and for the reduction of exogenous opioid – induced hyperalgesia. In this review, we examine the evidence for clinical usefulness of perioperative ketamine infusion and its role in the context of general and/or regional anesthesia.

Cite this article as:

Berti M., Baciarello M., Troglio R. and Fanelli G., Clinical Uses of Low – Dose Ketamine in Patients Undergoing Surgery, Current Drug Targets 2009; 10 (8) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/138945009788982496