Palliative care 2016

More & better treatment…?

In practice è ketamine , administered in subanesthetic doses

An IV or SC continuous infusion is initiated at a rate determined by the total dose and duration of effect of bolus doses . For example, if sufficient pain relief for 15 min with 5 mg of ketamine, è infusion of 20 mg/h would be appropriate. In patients receiving large-dose opioids, it is often possible (& desirable) to immediately reduce the opioid by 25%–50% Typical effects of anesthetic doses of ketamine do not pose problems (e.g., salivation, sedation, loss of airway reflexes, and hallucinations)