Ketamine with haloperidol, a good alternative to opioids for controlling acute pain: Study
Tehran, Iran: A recent study showed that ketamine functions better than fentanyl for controlling acute pain, and its side effect of agitation can be controlled by injecting it with haloperidol.
The findings, published in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine suggest that ketamine along with haloperidol can be a good alternative to opioids for pain reduction in patients with acute pain due to sits better function and fewer side effects.
Ketamine is shown to be effective for pain reduction without any significant side effects. Agitation is one of the limited side effects of ketamine. Considering the fact that haloperidol can reduce this symptoms, Pooya Payandemehr, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, and colleagues aimed to compare the analgesic effect of ketamine with haloperidol and fentanyl in reducing acute pain and its complications in a randomized clinical trial.
For this purpose, the researchers examined 200 adult patients who presented to the emergency department with acute pain. They were randomly assigned to receive ketamine with haloperidol or intravenous fentanyl. Then, the patients were compared for their pain scores before and after drugs administration. The side effects were also recorded.
Following were the study's key findings:
- There was no significant difference between the mean scores of initial pain in the two groups, but at all intervals of 5, 10, 15, and 30 min after injection, the mean of pain scores of patients in the group receiving Ketamine and Haloperidol was lower.
- The need for injection of rescue analgesia was 9% in the Ketamine and Haloperidol group and 34% in the Fentanyl group.
- The mean agitation score did not differ between the two groups except in the tenth minute.
- At the tenth minute, the mean agitation score of the Ketamine group was higher.
"Ketamine works better than fentanyl in controlling acute pain, and if injected with haloperidol, the limited side effect of agitation can be controlled," wrote the authors. "Due to its better function and fewer side effects, it seems that in controlling acute pain, Ketamine along with Haloperidol can be a good alternative to opioids."
Reference:
The study titled, "Sub dissociative dose of ketamine with haloperidol versus fentanyl on pain reduction in patients with acute pain in the emergency department; a randomized clinical trial," was published in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
