Ketamine for Pain in Sickle Cell Disease Reduces Opioid Usage.

Context: Pain attributable to sickle cell disease (SCD) is often unpredictable, recurrent, and requires complex treatments. Subanesthetic ketamine infusion has been studied in other diseases and disorders, but there is still limited data on its efficacy in pain management for SCD.

Objectives: The primary objective is to determine if subanesthetic ketamine infusion reduces pain scores and opioid requirements in hospitalized pediatric patients with SCD.