WASHINGTON: If your father is suffering from migraine and treatments have failed, then Ketamine — a medication commonly used for pain relief — maybe helpful to relieve the misery of headaches, suggests a recent study.
According to researchers from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, the horse tranquiliser, used illegally as a party drug, may be an effective treatment for those who fail to respond to other medications.
The findings indicated that Ketamine made the debilitating headaches less painful for nearly three quarters.
It offers hope of an effective remedy, with many desperate sufferers using alternative treatments as a last resort for their pain, including acupuncture and lavender oil.
Lead author Dr. Eric Schwenk said that Ketamine may hold promise as a treatment for migraine headaches in patients, on whom other treatments have been lesser effective.
Dr. Schwenk added that the study focused only on short-term relief, but it is encouraging that it might have the potential to help patients in the long term.
The team analysed 61 male migraine patients, who were in their 40s and had been admitted to hospital.
They found their pain rating, recorded on a scale of zero to 10, had more than halved, in patients given Ketamine during their hospital stay.
They were treated with regular infusions of Ketamine after being fitted-up with a drip for either three or seven days.
When they were admitted, their migraine pain was 7.5 on average. This dropped to 3.4 by the time they were discharged.
During a migraine, people are often very sensitive to light, sound and may become nauseated.
The research was presented at the ongoing ANESTHESIOLOGY annual meet in Boston.