Intralesional Injection of Ketamine in Postburn Neuropathic Pain: Two cases report

• DOI: 10.4097/kjae.2002.43.1.131
• Publication Date: 2016-03-02T02:38:27Z
• Authors: Jun Ku Hwang; Sang Yoon Jeon; Jung Won Kim; Hee Wook Wee; Kwang Min Kim; Wan Soo Oh
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; 3. Good health

The scarring process of bums can be accompanied by pain and/or paresthetic sensation which may persist after completion of scar formation. Once the wound is healed, it is possible that paresthetic and/or painful sensations persist as a result of abnormalities in the newly regenerated nerve endings or because of deficient reinnervation of the scarred tissue, that may give rise to abnormal inputs. Existence of glutamate receptors in peripheral nerves innervating normal and inflamed skin has been well addressed. Therefore we tried ketamine in postburn neuropathic pain expecting the antagonistic effect as a NMDA antagonist. We experienced two postburn pain patients who were successfully managed without any significant sign of side effects by an intra-lesional injection of ketamine and bupivacaine.