http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/j...TRY=1&SRETRY=0

CNS Measures of Pain Responses Pre- and Post-Anesthetic Ketamine in a Patient with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
L. Becerra, PhD,* R. J. Schwartzman, MD, † R. T. Kiefer, MD, ‡ P. Rohr, M MD, ‡ E. A. Moulton, PhD,* D. Wallin, BS,* G. Pendse, MA, MS,* S. Morris, BA,* and David Borsook, MD, PhD*
*Pain/Analgesia Imaging Neuroscience (PAIN) Group, Brain Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, Massachusetts; † Drexel University College of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; and ‡ Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Eberhard-Karls University, Tuebingen, Germany
Correspondence to David Borsook, MD, PhD, Pain/Analgesia Imaging Neuroscience (P.A.I.N.) Group, Brain Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA. Tel: 617-855-2691; Fax: 617-855-3772; E-mail: dborsook@partners.org
Copyright © 2009 American Academy of Pain Medicine
KEYWORDS
CRPS • Neuropathic Pain • Imaging • Clinical • fMRI • Ketamine Coma

ABSTRACT
Background. Previous reports have indicated that ketamine anesthesia may produce significant improvement if not complete recovery of patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).

Aims. Here we report on a patient who had CRPS affecting mainly the right side of her body who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans prior to and in the months following apparent successful treatment with anesthetic doses of ketamine.

Materials and Methods. The patient underwent two imaging sessions: one during her pain state (CRPS+) and 1 month after her ketamine treatment in her pain-free state (CRPS-).

Both spontaneous and evoked (brush, cold, and heat) pain scores decreased from 7–9/10 on a visual analog scale prior to the treatment to 0–1 immediately following and for months after the treatment. For each imaging session, the identical mechanical (brush) and thermal (cold and heat) stimuli were applied to the same location (the skin of the dorsum of the right hand).

Results. Comparison of CRPS+ vs CRPS- for the three stimuli showed significant changes throughout the cerebral cortex (frontal, parietal, temporal, cingulate, and hippocampus), in subcortical regions such as caudate nucleus, and in the cerebellum. In addition, resting state network analysis showed a reversal of brain network state, and the recovered state paralleled specific default networks in healthy volunteers.

Discussion. The observed changes in brain response to evoked stimuli provide a readout for the subjective response.

Conclusion. Future studies of brain function in these patients may provide novel insight into brain plasticity in response to this treatment for chronic pain.

They have also seen this reversal in people who have recovered using mirror therapy, ECT, and PT. They have even seen this reversal in people with phantom limb pain.