Ketamine May Help Treat Migraines

A new study presented at the annual Anesthesiology meeting suggests that ketamine may help to alleviate migraines in patients who have previously been unresponsive to other treatments.

61 patients were involved in the study and it was found that 75% had experienced improvement in the intensity of their migraine after a 3 to 7 day course of inpatient treatment with the use of ketamine. Ketamine is normally used to induce general anesthesia, it can also provide a powerful pain relief in lower doses than in its anesthetic use.

12% of the US population are estimated to suffer from migraines. Migraines are recurring episode of pulsing or throbbing attacks of moderate to severe pain. e During the migraine episodes individuals often become nauseated and vomit, and are very sensitive to sound and light. Migraines are up to three times more common in women than they are in men.

Researchers reviewed the data collected for the patients who had received ketamine infusions for the relief of intractable migraine headaches, which are migraines that have failed to be cured by all other available therapies. The average pain rating at admission was 7.5 on a scale of 0 to 10. The level of pain was rated on average 3.4 at discharge. The length of infusion on average was 5.1 days in duration. The lowest day of pain rating occurred on day 4. Adverse side effects were generally mild.

Some hospital use ketamine for the treatment of intractable migraines, but this course of treatment is not widely used or even available.

The retrospective nature of this study means it can not be said definitively that ketamine is entirely responsible for the relief, but the basis for a larger additional study have been provided to be undertaken using these result according to Dr. Eric Schwenk, director of orthopedic anesthesia at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.