Zeitschrift für Schmerz und Linderung

Abstrakt

Ketamine Effectiveness in Cancer Pain Management: Evidence-based Practice

Bilal SH Badr Naga and Mohammad M Thaher

Ketamine is a drug used for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. Despite the evidence of epidural ketamine in pain management in the oncology settings, there is still a gap in the clinical setting regarding the effectiveness of using ketamine in the management of cancer related pain. The purpose of this study is to review and analyze the existing research studies on using ketamine in the management of cancer pain, summarize the findings into evidence-based recommendations, and to answer the following PICO question: is of whether or not ketamine is an effective option for the management of cancer pain? A comprehensive literature review was conducted using the electronic database of CINAHL, EBSECO, MEDLINE, COCHRANE, and PubMed, for articles published between 2005 and 2013. The need for more RCTs in different cancer patients to understand the benefits/adverse effects of using ketamine in the management of cancer related pain. Some of the reviewed studies on ketamine show success rate, either due to pain management failure or appearance of adverse effects of opioids, ketamine as an third line analgesic have proven to be of effect in cancer patients with severe pain.