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Pain and Spine Medicine

Session: Ketamine infusion for anxiety and depression in chronic pain patients

Ketamine Infusion for Anxiety and Depression in Chronic Pain Patients

Saturday, October 25, 2025
8:00 AM - 9:15 AM MT
Location: Kiosk 10

    Poster Presenter(s)

  • Matthew Chen, Other

    Medical Student
    Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
    Cleveland, Ohio

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Chong Kim, MD

    Professor
    MetroHealth/Case Western Reserve University
    Westlake, Ohio

  • Nafis Eghrari, Other

    Medical Student
    Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
    Cleveland, Ohio

Disclosure(s):
Matthew Chen, Other: No financial relationships to disclose
Chong Kim, MD: No financial relationships to disclose
Nafis Eghrari, Other: No financial relationships to disclose
Background and/or Objectives: Intravenous ketamine has been used for various conditions, including chronic pain. Despite the use, there is limited, yet growing support for efficacy. More recently, ketamine has been used and studied for other conditions such as refractory depression. Since comorbid pain and depression are common and share some neurobiological elements in the central nervous system, there has been support for potential benefit or improved efficacy in patients of pain improvement for those with history of depression. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the potential impact of intravenous ketamine in depression and anxiety in chronic pain patients.

Design: Prospective observational study

Setting : Multidisciplinary academic pain management center.

Participants : 30 patients undergoing ketamine infusions for refractory chronic pain.

Interventions: Single dose ketamine infusion.

Main Outcome Measures: Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scoring, General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scoring, and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scoring was given pre and post infusion.

Results: Patients reported an average pain improvement of 67% at 2 week follow up, average VAS decease of 4.7 (0-10). The score decreased 6 points on the GAD-7 anxiety scale, and 1 point on the PHQ-9 depression scale pre and post ketamine infusion.

Conclusions: Single ketamine infusion may improve short term anxiety, along with pain in chronic pain patients. Further studies are warranted to assess long-term benefits.