Intraoperative Ketamine for Chronic Postoperative Pain After Open-Heart Surgery

Starting soon · Not applicable · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Cardiac Anaesthesia, Chronic Pain, Post Operative Pain, Chronic, Post Operative Pain, Acute, Ketamine, Pain

In brief

The goal of this interventional study is to determine whether a single intraoperative IV dose of ketamine can reduce postoperative chronic and acute pain and postoperative opioid requirements in adult patients undergoing open-heart surgery under general anesthesia. The main questions it aims to answer are: Primary outcome: Does a single-dose intraoperative IV ketamine reduce the presence and severity of pain at 3 and 6 months after surgery ? Secondary outcomes: Does it reduce acute postoperative pain scores, opioid consumption, and other recovery-related outcomes in the early postoperative period ? Researchers will compare a single-dose IV ketamine arm to a placebo arm to see if ketamine decreases chronic pain incidence at 3 and 6 months and improves acute pain/opioid-related outcomes. Participants will: Be randomized to receive either a single IV bolus of ketamine or placebo during surgery. Undergo standard general anesthesia and open cardiac surgery per protocol. Have postoperative pain assessed using Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) at extubation, 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours. Have opioid and additional analgesic use recorded, time to first rescue analgesic noted, and ICU/hospital length of stay tracked. Be evaluated for ICU delirium (CAM-ICU) and complete Quality of Recovery-15, Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form, and Pain Self-Efficacy questionnaires. Be followed up at 3 and 6 months for assessment of chronic postoperative pain.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07490457

Run by

Bursa City Hospital

People needed

100

Starts

2026-04-15

Expected to finish

2027-05-01

Last updated by the study team

2026-03-24

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 80. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• ASA II-III,
• Patients scheduled for elective on-pump open cardiac surgery via median sternotomy.

You may not qualify if…

• Emergency surgery requirement
• Need for reoperation
• Requirement for postoperative re-intubation
• History of opioid use
• Preoperative diabetic neuropathy or autonomic dysfunction
• Hepatic or renal dysfunction
• History of neuropathic pain
• Neurocognitive disorders such as psychosis or dementia
• Use of antidepressants or antipsychotics
• Body mass index (BMI) > 40

Where it is running

• Bursa City Hospital, — Bursa, nilüfer, Turkey (Türkiye)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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