Unlocking the Potential of Ketamine: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of its Safety and Efficacy in Acute Pain Management.
Combinatorial chemistry & high throughput screening – April 29, 2025
Source: PubMed
Summary
As hospitals seek alternatives to opioids like fentanyl for pain management, ketamine shows promise. Analysis of multiple clinical trials reveals that ketamine provides significant pain relief within 15 minutes of administration, matching the effectiveness of traditional painkillers. While showing similar safety profiles to placebo treatments, ketamine offers a viable option for acute pain control without increased side effects.
Abstract
The management of acute pain is a crucial and challenging component of emergency care. The pursuit of an ideal drug that alleviates pain rapidly and with fewer side effects is an ongoing endeavor. This meta-analysis reviews the safety and efficacy of ketamine in adult emergency department (ED) patients experiencing acute pain. This study was limited to randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The comparative group was morphine or other opioids or placebo, whereas the experimental group was ketamine. The primary outcome measures, in addition to adverse events, were the numeric rating scale (NRS). The included studies were subjected to analysis using the Review Manager Database. The non-significant changes in pain score were observed in the ketamine group at 10 minutes [- 0.46 (-2.03, 1.10)], 30 minutes [-0.13 (-0.62, 0.37)], and 60 minutes [-0.18 (-0.97, 0.61)] as compared to the control group. The significant changes were observed at 15 minutes [-4.11 (-7.91, -0.31)] in the ketamine group as compared to the control group. The overall risk ratio (1.20 [95% Confidence interval (CI), 0.93 to 1.55] indicated a non-significant difference in adverse events in the control group as compared to the ketamine group. The heterogeneity among included studies was found to be higher, as indicated by the I2 statistics. There were no significant differences in adverse events between the ketamine and the control groups. More randomized clinical trials are needed to determine ketamine's involvement in acute pain at 10, 30, and 60 minutes.