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Observation
August 2, 2023

Ketamine Infusions for Treatment-Resistant Neuropathic Pruritus

Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of Dermatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
  • 2Departments of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Neurology, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
JAMA Dermatol. 2023;159(9):1011-1012. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2023.1772

Neuropathic pruritus (NP) is characterized by severe itch that is secondary to dysregulation of the somatosensory nervous system. It is often resistant to treatment and associated with a severe reduction in quality of life. To our knowledge, there are currently no approved therapeutics for NP, and patients are often recalcitrant to off-label therapeutics.1 Brachioradial pruritus (BRP) is a subtype of NP that is associated with cervical spinal abnormalities in the C5 to C6 distribution.2 In this article, we report a case of successful use of intravenous ketamine for treating BRP.

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