Phantom Limb Pain Ketamine Treatment Study

Summary

Must be living Within a 50 mile radius of our study sites: Bay Area, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Sacramento, Los Angeles An anecdotal report with administration of ketamine in a non-clinical setting providing and sustained remission of symptoms after 6 years has furthered the interest in ascertaining if ketamine might indeed be a successful intervention. (See Wolfson and Barocchi). Ketamine has shown benefit in a variety of pain and neurological disorders. Its exploration for these continues and there appears to be an expanding use of ketamine for difficult to treat syndromes. Phantom limb pain occurs in over 50% of amputees, tends to be immediate in onset, but may occur at a later time. It is often excruciating, with a high frequency of episodes that tend to diminish with time-- variably. Its treatment is reliant on opioids and other pain medications usually with limited results. Acupuncture has been minimally explored with no clear results. Our study aims at clarifying ketamine's status for this particular disorder. This is an off-label use of RS ketamine for clinical purposes. Each subject of the 25-30 enrolled in the study will have up to 16 ketamine sessions over six months time, Subjects will be continued in the study if the partial or complete remission period is seven days or more, If less, subjects will be considered to have not adequately responded to the protocol's provision of IM ketamine. Dosage of ketamine will be determined in the initial session with a dosage escalation protocol with an upper limit of 120mg--that limit not to be exceeded for the duration of each subject's participation in the study.. The time for a succeeding session of ketamine is variable depending on response and therefore the duration of the remission--not to be less than 7 days as the minimum consideration for a response, Subjects will receive support throughout their sessions and these will be conducted with integration following the medication, much as in the ketamine assisted psychotherapy model practiced by us as clinicians. As PLP has its emotional impact as well as its complex pain presentation, these parameters will be followed with a variety of assessment tools. The nature of each subjects PLP syndrome will be analyzed in detail as well as the particularity of responses to the elements of the syndrome.. Living Within a 50 mile radius of our study sites: Bay Area, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Sacramento, Los Angeles

Eligibility

Age range

18–65 years

Sex

All

Healthy volunteers

No

Interventions

• Drug
  IM ketamine in dose finding and then continuation

  Intermittent ketamine treatment based on response

Locations (4)