Analgesic Effects of Low-dose S-ketamine in Major Spine Fusion Surgery

Despite opioid-based multimodal analgesia, moderate-to-severe pain remains a big problem in patients following multi-segment spinal fusion. As a N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, S-ketamine has prominent analgesic effects through activating receptors both in the brain and in the spinal cord, inhibiting the excitatory postsynaptic potential, and thus blunting nociception transmission. This randomized controlled trial is designed to investigate whether perioperative S-ketamine infusion can decrease pain intensity after major spine fusion surgery.