Standardized ketamine infusion protocol for chronic refractory pain: a retrospective study of preliminary effectiveness and treatment completion
Authors' conclusion
This standardized low-dose ketamine protocol demonstrated therapeutic benefit and high completion rates within a multidisciplinary care model.
Study context
- Population
- Adults with chronic refractory pain receiving ketamine infusion therapy (KIT), Cleveland Clinic outpatient multidisciplinary pain clinic, May 2021–October 2024890 completed 5+ infusions
- Participants
- 1,034 adults
- Outcome
- Proportion of patients achieving clinically meaningful improvement on validated PROs
Methodological detailssingle-group, outpatient multidisciplinary pain clinic
- Single-group
- Outpatient multidisciplinary pain clinic
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Clinically meaningful improvement on PROs, baseline to last infusion · last infusion
Proportion of patients achieving clinically meaningful improvement on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) (range across measures)
20.3% to 46.4%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Treatment completion (5+ infusions)
- Patients completing 5+ infusions
- 890 (86.1%)
Mean change in PROs
- Fatigue, mean change
- −2.1±7.7
- Pain interference, mean change
- −2.0±5.8
- Social role satisfaction, mean change
- 2.0±7.7
- Majority of individual outcomes did not reach clinically meaningful thresholds
- Improvements in depression, social role satisfaction, pain interference, self-efficacy, global health and pain catastrophizing sustained through 6 months post-treatment
Safety
- No adverse events reported
Original publication
Standardized ketamine infusion protocol for chronic refractory pain: a retrospective study of preliminary effectiveness and treatment completion. Reg Anesth Pain Med. Published 5 October 2025. doi:10.
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