Table 1.

Studies in which ketamine usage has significant benefit.

Author	Year	Surgical setting	Dosing	Timing	Outcomes
Single studies
Jha et al. [36]	2013	Cleft palette repair	0.5 mg/kg infiltration of surgical site		Lower pain score than bupivacaine (2 mg/kg) at 24 h, less rescue analgesia required
Eghbal et al. [37]	2013	Adenotonsillectomy	0.25 mg/kg IV bolus		Decreased emergence agitation, acetaminophen requirements, and pain scores
Nitta et al. [39]	2013	Cervical and lumbar spinal surgery	2.0 mg/kg/h IV	Bolus given for 5 h periop. (total of 10 mg/kg total)	Reduction in PCA requests and total morphine distributed at 24, 36, 48, and 60 hours
Hadi et al. [40]	2013	Lumbar microdiscectomy	1 μg/kg/min IV	Peri- and postop. for a total of 24 h	Decreased total morphine consumption, pain scores, and PONV
Kim et al. [41]	2013	Lumbar spinal fusion	0.5 mg/kg bolus, 2 μg/kg/min IV infusion	Infusion for 48 h postop.	Less fentanyl requirement postop.
Cengiz et al. [43]	2014	Total knee replacement	6 μg/kg/min IV	Periop. only	Reduction in morphine consumption at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h, lower pain scores
Nesher et al. [46]	2008	Thoracic surgery	1 mg morphine and 5 mg ketamine IV-PCA		Morphine consumption and patients requiring PCA at 36 h reduced by 50%; decreased pain scores and PONV
Suppa et al. [48]	2012	Cesarean section	0.5 mg/kg bolus, 2 μg/kg/min IV infusion	Bolus @ 10 min postop. then infusion for 12 h	Reduced pain sensitivity at T-10 dermatome
Zakine et al. [49]	2008	Major abdominal surgery	0.5 mg/kg bolus, 2 μg/kg/min IV infusion	Periop. bolus, infusion for 48 h	Decreased morphine consumption, pain scores, and PONV
de Kock et al. [50]	2001	Rectal adenocarcinoma resection	0.5 mg/kg bolus, 0.25 mg/kg/h IV infusion	Periop. infusion only	Lower morphine requirements, smaller hyperalgesic areas, and less pain at 6 months of follow-up
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Cho et al. [38]	2014	Tonsillectomy	Various	Preop. dosing	Decreased pain at 4 h, decreased analgesic need at 24 h
Laskowski et al. [51]	2011	Various	Various	Various	100% of ketamine groups required less postop. opioids, 78% reported less postop. pain
Elia and Tramèr [52]	2005	Various	Various	Various	Decrease in morphine consumption, longer time to first analgesic request, less pain at 6 months of follow-up
Subramaniam et al. [34]	2004	Various	Various	Various	Single bolus-less opioid consumption in 64% of trials; continuous infusion-less opioid consumption in 55% of trials; epidural infusion-beneficial in 63% of trials
McCartney et al. [53]	2004	Various	0.15–1.0 mg/kg, various routes	Various	Decreased postop. pain and/or decreased analgesic consumption in 58% of trials'

PONV: postoperative nausea and vomiting.