What do you think about low dose ketamine for chronic pain management?

RE: What do you think about low dose ketamine for chronic pain management?

Dinu Catilina — Mon, 22 May 2023 08:23:13 GMT

I use it as a last thing resort when chronic OA dogs have a sudden acute episode. Subjectively I think it works, we had these patients from crawling to ambulating within 12 hours. These patients would already be on a cocktail of NSAIds, paracetamol, gabapentin and amantadine.

RE: What do you think about low dose ketamine for chronic pain management?

Lindsey Edwards — Mon, 22 May 2023 00:59:35 GMT

I started using it in conjunction with cartrophen...owners often remarked on the greater improvement in comfort/pain seen compared to cartophen top up alone. Considering giving only ket initially as it seems to be adding more than I would expect from cartophen for pain although obviously not disease modifying at the level of the joints

RE: What do you think about low dose ketamine for chronic pain management?

Virginia Campbell — Sun, 21 May 2023 08:34:39 GMT

Same as Beats- I liked the notion, tried it on a few cases years ago, it did damn all as far as I could see (and I was probably biased towards wanting to convince myself of improvement). I only tried a small number of cases though.

RE: What do you think about low dose ketamine for chronic pain management?

Beats — Sat, 20 May 2023 20:03:52 GMT

I tried this on few cases about 10 years ago (before added paperwork of being a Sch 3 Controlled Drug). I thought "nice idea", but I wasn't objectively, personally, convinced that it did anything more than cartrophen (and that's not meant as a ringing endorsement for cartrophen).

Given the way dogs with OA wax and wane, I'd want to see some objective evidence before i was a bit more convinced of a useful effect. That said it was reasonably innocuous other than making dog a bit woozy for few hours and I'm in no way opposed to the idea.

RE: Low dose ketamine for chronic pain management

Robert FalconerTaylor — Sat, 20 May 2023 05:49:44 GMT

The original source of the idea is here - www.zeropainphilosophy.com/.../subcutaneous-ketamine-for-analgesia

RE: Low dose ketamine for chronic pain management

Tafara Mapuvire — Fri, 19 May 2023 18:24:52 GMT

Hi Clive,

I am one of those that routinely use ketamine at 1mg/kg SC as part of rescue analgesia. I also use it for chronic pain cases with a neuropathic pain component. Ketamine is a potent analgesic which works by blocking NMDA receptors. The analgesic effects of a single injection are thought to last 3 days. It is also thought to reverse 'wind up' by 'resetting' the nociceptive maladaptive state that characterises neuropathic pain. I also use low dose ketamine IV intraoperatively for cases that are otherwise adequately anaesthetised but still show physiological responses to pain and or surgical manipulation. I find this commonly with orthopaedic surgery.

Regards,

Tafara

RE: Low dose ketamine for chronic pain management

Helen Light — Fri, 19 May 2023 18:00:50 GMT

Yes I use 0.05mg/kg initially weekly for 2-4 weeks then reduce to monthly.

seems to work quite well for chronic OA pain.