Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40355795›Full record

Trial reportNeurocritical care2026

Effect of Ketamine Analgosedation on Neurological Outcome in patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.

Sourav Burman, Rajendra Singh Chouhan, Niraj Kumar, Charu Mahajan

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Neurocritical care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Sedation and analgesia strategies in the neuro intensive care unit.World journal of critical care medicine · 2025
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Sourav BurmanDepartment of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalyani, India.
Rajendra Singh ChouhanDepartment of Neuroanaesthesiology and Neurocritical Care, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Niraj KumarDepartment of Neuroanaesthesiology and Neurocritical Care, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Charu MahajanDepartment of Neuroanaesthesiology and Neurocritical Care, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. charushrikul@gmail.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMost of the sedative and analgesic drugs used in patients with head injury cause a dose-dependent decrease in blood pressure, which may further worsen secondary neurologic injury. The sympathomimetic profile of ketamine, along with its neuroprotectant effect, can have a beneficial effect in these patients.

methodsA total of 60 adult patients with severe traumatic brain injury were randomized to receive either ketamine infusion at 3 mg/kg/h or normal saline. The study drugs were given by infusion while intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring was going on. Systemic hemodynamics, arterial blood gas values, ICP, cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), and jugular venous oxygen saturation were monitored. At the end of 3 months, neurological outcome was recorded by an independent observer using the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended.

resultsBaseline values of hemodynamic parameters were comparable in the two groups. In the initial 4-6 h, patients in the ketamine group had a significantly higher level of blood pressure and CPP than patients in the control group, but the effect was not sustained after 6 h. Similarly, a significant reduction in ICP was observed only for a brief period, between the fourth and sixth hours. Vasopressors were more often used in the control group (13 [43.3%] vs. 5 [16.6%]; p = 0.02). There was no difference in the neurological outcome at 3 months in both groups.

conclusionsThere was no significant improvement in neurological outcome with ketamine infusion in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. There was a trend toward better CPP and lower ICP; however, the difference was statistically insignificant. Trial registered at Central Trial Registry of India (CTRI/2018/09/015729) at https://ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/.

Indexed as

Brain Injuries, TraumaticIntracranial PressureKetamineNeuroprotective AgentsOutcome Assessment, Health CareAdultBlood PressureFemaleGlasgow Outcome ScaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsYoung AdultKetamineNeuroprotective AgentsAnalgosedationGlasgow outcome scale-extendedIntracranial pressureKetamineNeurological outcomeSevere traumatic brain injurySystemic hemodynamics

Identifiers

PMID40355795

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.