Ketamine Infusions

What is Ketamine?

Ketamine was first developed in 1962 and was used extensively as an IV anesthetic during the Vietnam War. Ketamine has an excellent safety record and continues to be a successful anesthetic in surgery at hospitals, surgery centers and medical practices throughout the world. In recent years, a number of leading academic institutions and medical centers, including Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, and Stanford University, have conducted randomized controlled studies validating the effectiveness of low doses of Ketamine in the treatment of severe acute and chronic pain. These studies have also shown Ketamine to be extremely effective in treating depression, overwhelmingly alleviating symptoms in patients who have not previously responded to traditional antidepressant medications.

What other specific conditions can Ketamine Infusion Therapy be used to treat?

Ketamine has recently been shown to have substantial beneficial effects on patients suffering from a variety of psychological and physical medical conditions including:

Refractory Chronic Pain
Fibromyalgia
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) / Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD)
Major Depression
Bipolar Disorder
Severe Anxiety
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Migraines

How does Ketamine Infusion treatment work?

The active mechanism of Ketamine centers around the neurotransmitter glutamate. Glutamate transmits signals in the brain and throughout the nerves in the body. It plays a key role in brain development, learning, memory, emotion, and excitation. When a low dose of ketamine is administered via slow infusion, a signaling pathway is created in the brain which leads to the actual growth of neural connections. In addition, Ketamine is also a powerful anti-inflammatory agent. Depression, like most diseases, has an association with chronic inflammation. Currently, insurance does not cover Ketamine in the treatment of pain or depression. However, Integrity Pain & Vein Clinic is committed to providing this effective treatment to its patients at a reasonable price. In fact, the cost of this service at our practice is the most competitive in the area.