IV Ketamine Infusion
What is Ketamine?
Intravenous (IV) ketamine infusion therapy has emerged as a treatment option for a variety of chronic pain conditions including fibromyalgia, small fiber neuropathy, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) and psychiatric conditions including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicidal ideation, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Dr. Mukalel is a leading Interventional Pain Doctor that provides IV Ketamine Infusion treatment, with thousands of patients treated for pain and depression. Patients are reporting amazing, miraculous results with only a few treatments.
Importance of Ketamine
Ketamine is one of only two anesthetics listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an "essential drug. WHO is a specialized agency of the United Nations concerned with international public health. Their essential drugs are "those drugs that satisfy the health care needs of the majority of the population; they should therefore be available at all times in adequate amounts and in appropriate dosage forms, at a price the community can afford". The World Health Organization's "essential drugs" form the basis for many countries' national drug policy.
History of Ketamine
Ketamine is not a new drug. It has been used for five decades in human and veterinarian medicine. Ketamine is an anesthetic drug that was introduced into clinical practice in 1970.1 At anesthetic doses it results in a complete loss of consciousness while preserving certain protective reflexes. That has made it attractive to anesthesiologists in selective patients. While it does stimulate opiate receptors, much like morphine, its NMDA receptor antagonism at subanesthetic doses is thought to be much more important in the treatment of chronic pain and psychiatric disorders. Blocking the NMDA receptor and preventing the passage of ions through the channel interrupts pain signal transduction, giving central pain centers a chance to “reboot”. This often requires that a patient undergo a series of low dose ketamine infusions for dramatic or complete elimination of their chronic pain. Ketamine infusions have been most often used when other treatment modalities have failed. Certain types of pain considered to be “neuropathic” in origin have been most studied and are considered to be most responsive to ketamine therapy.
How Ketamine can help
Ketamine works by blocking certain pain receptors in the brain and resetting some nerve cells in your spine and brain. Ketamine reduces some types of pain more effectively than others and is generally considered for the following chronic pain conditions:
• Complex regional pain syndrome (CPRS)
• Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD)
• Neuropathic pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Traumatic spinal cord pain
• Pudendal pain
• Certain types of nerve and back pain
