Spreading depolarization in acute brain injury inhibited by ketamine: a prospective, randomized, multiple crossover trial

Andrew P Carlson, Mohammad Abbas, Robert L Alunday, Fares Qeadan, C William Shuttleworth

Objective

Retrospective clinical data and case studies support a therapeutic effect of ketamine in suppression of spreading depolarization (SD) following brain injury. Preclinical data strongly support efficacy in terms of frequency of SD as well as recovery from electrocorticography (ECoG) depression. The authors present the results of the first prospective controlled clinical trial testing the role of ketamine used for clinical sedation on occurrence of SD.