Ketamine Infusion for Opioid-induced Hyperalgesia in Sickle Cell Vaso-occlusive Crisis

Friday, November 14, 2025

4:02 PM - 4:10 PM CT

Location: Griffin Hall - Screen 05

Introduction: Vaso-occlusive crises (VOC) are a hallmark of sickle cell disease (SCD), oftentimes, requiring patient controlled analgesia (PCA) administration with opioids. Escalating doses of opioids for VOCs run the risk of opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH), a phenomenon where paradoxical administration of high-doses of opioids rather exacerbate pain¹. Ketamine’s use as an analgesic adjunct in OIH in SCD-VOCs is unknown and data is sparse.

Submitting Author(s)

NP

Nikit Patel, D.O.

Resident Physician
Jefferson Moss-Magee Rehabilitation
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Co-Author(s)

EP

Evani Patel, MD

Resident Physician
University of Pennsylvania, United States
PL

Patricia Locantore-Ford, MD

Attending Physician
University of Pennsylvania, United States