Ketamine Infusion Therapy in a Patient of Posttraumatic Syringomyelia

Abstract

The clinical syndrome of posttraumatic syringomyelia can compli cate major spinal trauma and develops many months after spinal injury. The 50−90% of patients experienced the pain and especially the component of central pain. In patients with central pain following spinal cord injury, ketamine has been shown to be an effective analgesic. We report a case of posttraumatic syringomyelia in a 30-year-old woman who complained of central pain, weakness of both legs and dysesthesia. She had not responded to pulsed radiofrequency, or lidocaine infusion therapy, but a continuous intravenous infusion of ketamine, an N-methyl-D-asparate receptor antagonist, reduced her severe central pain. In conclusion, a ketamine infusion therapy resulted in a significant reduction of central pain without decreasing of motor power and function. (Korean J Pain 2008; 21: 248-251)