Targeting Affective Mood Disorders With Ketamine to Prevent Chronic Postsurgical Pain.
Front Pain Res (Lausanne) June 27, 2022 Dianna E. Willis, Peter A. Goldstein 6 citations
Ketamine, an anesthetic added to the World Health Organization's essential medicines lists, is effective for acute pain at sub-anesthetic doses and may relieve some chronic pain. In 2019, its S-enantiomer was approved for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder. Pre-existing anxiety or depression and severe postoperative pain are risk factors for chronic postsurgical pain. This review examines ketamine's effects on biological and psychological processes underlying pain and mood disorders, focusing on non-NMDA receptor mechanisms and human trial results, to assess whether short-term ketamine can prevent acute postsurgical pain from becoming chronic.