Compounded oral ketamine.

The nonnarcotic nonaddictive neuropathic pain reliever ketamine, which was synthesized in the early 1960s by Parke-Davis, was first administered to human patients in 1965. Used by the U. S. military as a field anesthetic during the Vietnam War, it slowly became popular as both an induction and maintenance agent for the general anesthesia required during brief surgical procedures. The use of ketamine in the past has been limited primarily to intravenous administration in hospitalized patients. Very recently, several published reports have described the use of low-dose ketamine for the relief of pain, refractory depression, and anxiety in patients with or without cancer. Because chronic pain, depression, and anxiety often occur in hospice patients with or without cancer and in palliative care patients who are not eligible for hospice, the discovery of new and effective uses for an established drug to treat those conditions has excited interest in the palliative care community. We support that interest with this case report, which describes our experience in treating a 44-year-old male hospice patient with severe constant anxiety, fear, and depression in addition to multiple near-terminal comorbid physical conditions that produce chronic pain. Prior treatments prescribed to resolve this patient's pain, anxiety, and depression had proven ineffective. However, a single low-dose (0.5 mg/kg) subcutaneous test injection of ketamine provided dramatic relief from those symptoms for 80 hours, although the anesthetic effects of that drug are not of long duration. This good outcome has been sustained to date by daily treatment with a compounded flavored oral ketamine solution (40 mg/5 mL) that is not commercially available. Flavoring the solution masks the bitter taste of ketamine and renders the treatment palatable. We found ketamine to be a well-tolerated and effective treatment for the triad of severe anxiety, chronic pain, and severe depression in a hospice patient with multiple comorbid conditions. To our knowledge, this report chronicles the first use of compounded oral ketamine for home-based palliative or hospice care in Louisiana. A formulation for a flavored oral ketamine solution is provided for easy reference.

The German hospital malnutrition study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Malnutrition is frequently observed in chronic and severe diseases and associated with impaired outcome. In Germany general data on prevalence and impact of hospital malnutrition are missing. METHODS: Nutritional state was assessed by subjective global assessment (SGA) and by anthropometric measurements in 1,886 consecutively admitted patients in 13 hospitals (n=1,073, university hospitals; n=813, community or teaching hospitals). Risk factors for malnutrition and the impact of nutritional status on length of hospital stay were analyzed. RESULTS: Malnutrition was diagnosed in 27.4% of patients according to SGA. A low arm muscle area and arm fat area were observed in 11.3% and 17.1%, respectively. Forty-three % of patients 70 years old were malnourished compared to only 7.8% of patients <30 years. The highest prevalence of malnutrition was observed in geriatric (56.2%), oncology (37.6%), and gastroenterology (32.6%) departments. Multivariate analysis revealed three independent risk factors: higher age, polypharmacy, and malignant disease (all P<0.01). Malnutrition was associated with an 43% increase of hospital stay (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In German hospitals every fourth patient is malnourished. Malnutrition is associated with increased length of hospital stay. Higher age, malignant disease and major comorbidity were found to be the main contributors to malnutrition. Adequate nutritional support should be initiated in order to optimize the clinical outcome of these patients.