Efficacy of adding ketamine to levobupivacaine in paravertebral block on acute and chronic pain in thoracotomy: a randomized controlled double-blinded trial.
Pain reports December 1, 2024 Saad Ahmed Moharam, Amgad Elshikh, Mohamed Abdelbadie et al. 3 citations
Adding ketamine to a thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) improves immediate pain control after thoracotomy. In a randomized controlled trial of 60 patients, those receiving ketamine plus levobupivacaine requested pain relief significantly later, required less morphine in the first 24 and 48 hours, and reported lower pain scores at rest and during deep breathing compared to those receiving levobupivacaine alone. However, the addition of ketamine did not reduce the incidence of chronic post-thoracotomy pain syndrome or complications at 2 and 3 months.