Blood Levels of Ketamine in Patients Using Topical Application of 10% Ketamine Gel for Neuropathic Pain

June 29, 2011 updated by: Lawson Health Research Institute

Plasma Concentrations of Ketamine and Norketamine in Patients Using Topical Application of 10% Ketamine for Neuropathic Pain.

The purpose of this research study is to measure how much, if any, ketamine is absorbed into the blood stream after ketamine gel is applied to the skin. The investigators expect that the topical administration will provide pain relief locally, at the site of pain, but not be absorbed into the bloodstream and thus not cause side effects. This research will help assess the safety of this drug by measuring the blood concentrations of the drug.

Ketamine is a general anesthetic drug but also has excellent pain relieving qualities. It has been used to relieve chronic pain by administering intravenously, by mouth, or as an injection beneath the skin. When given these ways ketamine can occasionally cause side effects like dizziness, nausea, nightmares, agitation, hallucinations. Recently it has been used topically for patients with neuropathic pain in order to avoid the dizziness and nausea side effects.

Neuropathic Pain can be partially caused by the misfiring of small nerve fibers close to the area of pain. By applying it on the skin, it is expected the drug can penetrate the skin and act directly on the small nerve fibers. The advantage is that less drug will get into the blood circulation. Up to now, it has not been carefully studied how much of the drug appears in the circulation after application on the skin.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

15

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 4V2
        • Recruiting
        • Pain Clinic, St. Joseph's Health Care London Hospitals
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Patricia Morley- Forster, MD, FRCPC
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Rajarathinam Manikandan, MD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Dr Craig Railton, MD FRCP(C)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients attending the St Josephs Hospital pain clinic with chronic neuropathic pain.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with peripheral, focal neuropathic pain such as or complex regional pain syndrome following surgery, bony, soft tissue trauma or nerve trauma, associated with significant allodynia and hyperalgesia who score equal to or greater than 4 in the DN4 questionnaire.
  • Duration of pain more than 3 months.
  • Ability to speak English adequately to consent to and participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Allergy to ketamine
  • Severe medical illnesses like, e.g. unstable angina, tachyarryhthmias, renal or hepatic failure
  • History of psychosis.
  • Patients who are already on oral ketamine treatment.
  • Patients who are taking HIV Antiretrovirals: (indinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir saquinavir); Antibiotics: (clairithromycin, itraconazole, ketoconazole, telithromycin,fluconazole, erythromycin); Calcium Channel Blockers (verapamil, diltiazem),Amiodarone, Ciprofloxacin. (These drugs inhibit CYP 3A4 enzyme which metabolises ketamine)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Case-Only
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Lawson Health Research Institute

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Patricia Morley- Forster, MD, FRCPC, Western University, Canada

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

June 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2011

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 29, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 29, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

June 30, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 30, 2011

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 29, 2011

Last Verified

June 1, 2011

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R-11-137
  • 17756 (REB)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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