Managing Chronic Pain: The Ketamine Option
CNS Drugs October 16, 2025 Gisèle Pickering, Véronique Morel, Marion Voute 2 citations
Ketamine, an anesthetic and sedative drug, is used off-label for chronic refractory pain and can provide significant short-term pain relief, especially for neuropathic pain, and is fairly well-tolerated in patients with severe refractory pain. However, long-term data on efficacy, cognitive impact, addiction risk, and optimal dosing are severely lacking. The intravenous route is the most studied, while alternatives remain underexplored. Ketamine is not a first-line treatment and must be prescribed by trained specialists within a structured standard of care. Future use depends on collaborative research to define optimal administration routes, patient phenotyping, and long-term studies assessing mood, quality of life, and cognitive function.