Ketamine for Refractory Chronic Migraine: a Pilot Study

Summary

Ketamine is a drug used for anesthesia but at low doses it is a very effective pain reliever in several chronic conditions. Preliminary studies have shown that ketamine might be effective for patients with refractory chronic migraine, which is a severe type of headache for which patients usually have tried and failed many medications and can cause severe disability to their lives. This study will evaluate ketamine prospectively when given to patients who have "failed" an initial inpatient treatment.

Timeline

Start

2019-03-22

Primary completion

2020-01-01

Completion

2020-01-01

Publications

• Background Schwenk ES, Dayan AC, Rangavajjula A, Torjman MC, Hernandez MG, Lauritsen CG, Silberstein SD, Young W, Viscusi ER. Ketamine for Refractory Headache: A Retrospective Analysis. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2018 Nov;43(8):875-879. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000827.
• Background Cohen SP, Bhatia A, Buvanendran A, Schwenk ES, Wasan AD, Hurley RW, Viscusi ER, Narouze S, Davis FN, Ritchie EC, Lubenow TR, Hooten WM. Consensus Guidelines on the Use of Intravenous Ketamine Infusions for Chronic Pain From the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2018 Jul;43(5):521-546. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000808.
• Background Schwenk ES, Viscusi ER, Buvanendran A, Hurley RW, Wasan AD, Narouze S, Bhatia A, Davis FN, Hooten WM, Cohen SP. Consensus Guidelines on the Use of Intravenous Ketamine Infusions for Acute Pain Management From the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2018 Jul;43(5):456-466. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000806.
• Background Schulman E. Refractory migraine - a review. Headache. 2013 Apr;53(4):599-613. doi: 10.1111/head.12047. Epub 2013 Feb 13.
• Background Afridi SK, Giffin NJ, Kaube H, Goadsby PJ. A randomized controlled trial of intranasal ketamine in migraine with prolonged aura. Neurology. 2013 Feb 12;80(7):642-7. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182824e66. Epub 2013 Jan 30.
• Background Pomeroy JL, Marmura MJ, Nahas SJ, Viscusi ER. Ketamine Infusions for Treatment Refractory Headache. Headache. 2017 Feb;57(2):276-282. doi: 10.1111/head.13013. Epub 2016 Dec 27.

Drugs

Indications