Neurocognitive Changes after Sustained Ketamine Administration in Children with Chronic Pain.
BACKGROUND
Ketamine has received attention recently as an agent for chronic pain. There are concerns, however, regarding the neurocognitive changes patients might experience after ketamine exposure.


METHODS
This prospective, uncontrolled study describes the neurocognitive functioning of 11 children with chronic pain before and after 2 weeks of daily oral ketamine exposure. Neurocognitive assessment was performed at baseline, Week 2, and Week 14. We hypothesized that there would be declines in neurocognitive scores at either Week 2 or Week 14.


RESULTS
No decline in neurocognitive function was detected in the children investigated. Mean scores for tests measuring executive function and memory were improved at Weeks 2 and 14 compared to baseline.


CONCLUSIONS
This study did not detect any decline in neurocognitive scores in a small number of children exposed to 2 weeks of oral ketamine therapy. Randomized, controlled studies of the neurocognitive effects of ketamine in children are recommended to further investigate these preliminary findings.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA.
Amy Lee
AL
Bredlau
Cog State, Inc. Yale University School of Medicine, Child Study Center, New Haven, USA.
Brian T
BT
Harel
Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA.
Michael P
MP
McDermott
Departments of Anesthesiology and Neurology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA.
Robert H
RH
Dworkin
Departments of Pediatrics and Palliative Care, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA.
David N
DN
Korones
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA.
James G
JG
Dolan
Department of Neurology Rochester, University of Rochester, New York, USA.
Heather R
HR
Adams
Cognitive function; Memory; Neurologic; Pediatric; Sedation