Ketamine Treatment in
Boca Raton & Tamarac, FL

Ketamine is a well-studied anesthetic and analgesic medication used in surgery and pain management. It works by blocking the transmission of pain signals to the brain, allowing the patient to remain comfortable. It also has a calming effect, reducing anxiety and helping the patient to relax. By reducing sensitivity to pain and providing a sense of comfort, ketamine can help relieve acute and chronic pain. It can also be used to provide temporary relief from pain in cases of surgery, trauma, and severe pain syndromes. While ketamine has traditionally been used mostly in emergency medicine, physicians are starting to use it as part of a pain management regime. The mechanism by which ketamine works is as an NMDA receptor antagonist, which reduces the action of the NMDA receptor and results in dissociative anesthesia. However, it is not an anesthetic at low doses, leading physicians to consider its use as a pain management drug. It also interacts with other systems in the brain, leading it to be used as a treatment for major depressive disorder. One of the best uses for ketamine is for treating cancer pain that is not responsive to opioid medication. Ketamine is also used to help hospice patients deal with opioid-resistant pain, reduce dependence on opioid medications, and treat severe pain in patients who don’t want to use opioids at all. The American Society of Anesthesiologists endorses using ketamine as an adjuvant for pain management following procedures that result in severe pain.