Topical Ketamine in the Treatment of Mucositis Pain

ABSTRACT Ketamine oral rinse provided effective palliation of intractable mucositis pain in a 32‐year‐old woman with squamous carcinoma of the tongue undergoing radiation therapy. Pain at rest and with eating decreased with ketamine, allowing for a tapering of her opiate dose. No side effects of ketamine were reported. Treatment benefits most likely arose from the inhibition by ketamine of peripheral N‐methyl D‐aspartate receptors, though other mechanisms of action may have been contributory. Further evaluation of topical ketamine in the treatment of mucositis‐related pain, and, potentially, other causes of inflammatory oral pain, are warranted.