Anesthesiology Journal's podcast Featured Author Podcast: Ketamine for Acute Pain after Breast Surgery
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Oct 29, 2025 Join Kristin L. Schreiber, a leader in regional anesthesia and expert in pain management, alongside Eric S. Schwenk, a professor focused on individualized care in perioperative medicine. They dive into a groundbreaking trial exploring ketamine’s role in managing acute pain after breast surgery. Discover how patient traits influence pain responses, the surprising prevalence of chronic pain post-surgery, and the complexities of balancing standardized care with individual patient needs. Their insights on central sensitization and the nuances of ketamine's efficacy are both illuminating and essential for future pain management strategies.
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Dual Aims: Efficacy And Heterogeneity
- The trial tested whether intraoperative ketamine reduces acute and longer-term pain after breast cancer surgery.
- The study also investigated if patient-level characteristics predict who benefits most from ketamine.
Temporal Summation As Central Sensitization Marker
- Temporal summation of pain is a measured proxy for central sensitization using repeated standardized pinprick stimuli.
- Individuals with high temporal summation show increasing pain across repeated stimuli and are at higher chronic pain risk.
Use Portable Pinprick Probes For Testing
- Use standardized pinprick probes with a floating weight to deliver consistent noxious stimuli at bedside.
- These probes are portable and suitable for clinic preoperative quantitative sensory testing.