The following is a summary of “Intravenous S-ketamine’s analgesic efficacy in third molar surgery. A randomized placebo-controlled double-blind clinical trial,” published in the December 2023 issue of Pain by Eriksson et al.
Researchers launched a retrospective study to assess the efficacy and safety of S-ketamine as an opioid-sparing analgesic in day-case third molar surgery, comparing it to the traditional paracetamol-ibuprofen combination.
They designed the study as a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind clinical trial, enrolling healthy subjects classified as American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I or II, aged 18 to 44 years, with a body weight between 50 and 100 kg. The patients were randomized into three groups, comparing two doses of S-ketamine (high: 0.25 mg/kg or low: 0.125 mg/kg) with placebo (saline).
The results showed no notable difference in VAS at 4 h postoperatively between the placebo and high-dose S-ketamine or low-dose groups. A noticeable distinction emerged in the first 24 hours, with a lower VAS score in the high-dose S-ketamine group. In the high-dose ketamine group, 50% took their first rescue medication 12 minutes later.
Investigators concluded that pre-operative S-ketamine 0.25 mg/kg significantly reduced post-surgical pain within 24 hours, with patients in the high-dose group requiring rescue medication later compared to other groups.
Source: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20494637231222327
