CLEVELAND, OH (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Almost 52 million Americans have dealt with chronic pain — a debilitating pain that persists for months or years. Chronic pain can be caused by anything from an illness to an injury, but many people suffer in the absence of any past injury or illness. Cleveland Clinic is taking a different approach at treating chronic pain — with a well-known drug that’s typically used as an anesthetic agent. Ketamine
At 19, Emily Ryan was your typical college freshman — playing tennis, taking classes, and enjoying her friends — until one night.
“I went to bed completely healthy, no issues, and i woke up completely paralyzed from the waist below and had peed the bed,” she says.
That was the start of her 10-year journey with chronic pain.
Cleveland Clinic’s Pavan Tankha, MD explains, “The conventional treatment of chronic pain is through the biomedical approach. So, here’s a medication, here’s an injection, here’s a surgery — oftentimes, not addressing the other components that are associated with it.”
That’s why Dr. Tankha took a different approach at treating Emily — he used ketamine.
“You would come into the infusion suite, we would start an IV, and then based on your weight, we would infuse an amount of ketamine over 40 minutes. We repeat that process five days in row. The pain relief effects of ketamine may be immediate, or it can take up to three to four weeks to show up,” he says.
Since starting her ketamine treatments, Emily is back doing things she loves, and even started a flower business.
Emily explains, “What’s really special about us, at the end of all our events, all our flowers go back to health care workers and patients. Ketamine has truly given me my life back.”
Doctor Tankha says patients with unstable angina, uncontrollable high blood pressure, very significant coronary artery disease, extensive liver failure, psychosis, or delirium are not good candidates for the ketamine infusions.
Contributors to this news report include: Adahlia Thomas, Producer; Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor.
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Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7215a1.htm
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/chronic-pain
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/podcasts/neuro-pathways/ketamine-for-chronic-pain
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TITLE: EMILY SAYS KETAMINE CHANGED HER LIFE
REPORT: MB #5407
BACKGROUND: Chronic pain is a complex and often debilitating condition defined by pain that persists for more than three to six months, beyond the usual course of an acute illness or injury. It can affect any part of the body and may have a significant impact on an individual’s quality of life, mental health, and daily functioning. According to the CDC, over 50 million Americans experienced chronic pain in 2021, and the number continues to rise.
(Sources: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/chronic-pain
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7215a1.htm)
DIAGNOSING: Symptoms of chronic pain include, but are not limited to: burning, shooting, or stabbing pain, numbness or tingling, aching, throbbing, or sharp pain, widespread pain, or sensitivity to touch or pressure. Doctors can easily diagnose chronic pain with blood tests, electromyography, x-rays, MRIs, nerve conduction, reflex and balance tests, spinal taps, and/or urine tests. Chronic pain can be a result of an illness or an injury, but most times, it can occur without any previous trauma.
(Sources: https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/brain-and-nerves/chronic-pain/symptoms.html
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4798-chronic-pain)
NEW TECHNOLOGY: Cleveland Clinic is now using ketamine – an anesthetic drug – to treat patients with chronic pain. “The Center for Pain Recovery’s evidence-based treatment model entails repeated infusions during several days to provide the best opportunity for results while minimizing side-effect risk. This innovative treatment has been shown to be safe and effective for patients with various types of chronic pain. While the treatment can help with pain, the outcomes demonstrate meaningful improvement in pain catastrophizing, pain interference, and self-efficacy for managing symptoms for patients who receive infusions alongside other multidisciplinary offerings.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:
Halle Bishop
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Marjorie Bekaert Thomas at mthomas@ivanhoe.com
