Low-dose ketamine safely reduces acute pain in the ED with a more rapid and shorter effect than morphine.
Evan S Schwarz
Annals of Internal Medicine April 1, 2024 DOI: 10.7326/J24-0017 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Meta-analysis Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with acute pain in the emergency department |
| Interventions | Low-dose ketamine Morphine |
| Topics | Esketamine Ketamine |
| Keywords | Pain management Emergency medicine Ketamine therapy Analgesics Clinical trials |
| Key findings | Low-dose ketamine provides comparable pain relief to morphine for acute pain in the emergency department but with a different side effect profile. |
Abstract
Guo J, Zhao F, Bian J, et al. Low-dose ketamine versus morphine in the treatment of acute pain in the emergency department: a meta-analysis of 15 randomized controlled trials. Am J Emerg Med. 2024;76:140-149. 38071883.
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on ketamine, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The effect of a single dose of intravenous ketamine on suicidal ideation: a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis Depressed patients with suicidal ideation at baseline | 2017 | Systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis | n = 167 |
| Ketamine use: a review Ketamine users | 2011 | Systematic review | |
| Ketamine and Other NMDA Antagonists: Early Clinical Trials and Possible Mechanisms in Depression Participants with major depression in placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized... | 2015 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| Ketamine and postoperative pain – a quantitative systematic review of randomised trials Surgical patients from 25 countries | 2004 | Systematic review | n = 2,839 |
| Side-effects associated with ketamine use in depression: a systematic review. Patients with depression | 2018 | Systematic review |