Ketamine for CRPS
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome is one of the most painful conditions in medicine — and one of the least understood by people who haven't lived it. Ketamine is among the most studied treatments for CRPS, and it targets the mechanism most others can't reach.
Pain That Outlived Its Injury —
And Outran Its Explanations
If you have CRPS, you've probably had the experience of describing your pain — the burning, the swelling, the skin that can't tolerate a bedsheet — and watching someone quietly not believe you. You may have cycled through nerve blocks, medications, physical therapy, even spinal cord stimulation, with results that faded or never came. You are not exaggerating, and you are not out of options.
CRPS is driven in large part by central sensitization: the nervous system itself has become pathologically amplified, so pain signaling continues and intensifies far beyond the original injury. That's why treatments aimed at the injury site so often fall short — the problem has moved upstream.
Targeting the Amplifier, Not Just the Signal
The NMDA receptor plays a central role in "wind-up" — the process by which the nervous system learns and amplifies pain. Ketamine is a potent NMDA-receptor antagonist, which is why it has been studied for CRPS more extensively than nearly any other chronic-pain condition. By quieting that amplification directly, ketamine infusions can reduce pain in patients for whom opioids, nerve blocks, and neuropathic agents have failed — and may help "reset" sensitized pain pathways.
Honest framing: Ketamine's use for CRPS is off-label. Randomized controlled trials of multi-day outpatient ketamine infusions have demonstrated significant pain reduction versus placebo, with relief in responders often lasting weeks to months after a treatment course. Protocols for pain typically involve longer infusions than mood treatment. Not every patient responds, relief generally requires periodic re-treatment, and we will be straightforward with you about both.
How We Treat CRPS at Desert Sands
CRPS care begins with a detailed review of your diagnosis, pain history, prior interventions, current medications, and overall health. Treatment protocols are physician-directed and supported by experienced clinical staff under the medical oversight of board-certified anesthesiologist Dr. Eric Evans, whose more than 30 years of clinical experience help guide the highest standards of patient safety, comfort, and care — and whose anesthesiology background is directly relevant here, since ketamine pain protocols involve longer, carefully titrated infusions with continuous monitoring.
What a pain protocol looks like
Chronic-pain infusions are typically longer than mood-treatment infusions — often several hours — delivered as a series over consecutive or closely spaced days, at sub-anesthetic doses individually titrated to your response and tolerance. You'll be in a private room with hospital-grade infusion equipment and continuous vital-sign monitoring throughout. After your initial series, maintenance infusions are scheduled based on how long your relief holds. We're glad to coordinate with your pain-management physician or neurologist.
Patient Selection
- Have diagnosed CRPS (Type I or II) that hasn't responded adequately to conventional treatment
- Have failed or plateaued on nerve blocks, neuropathic medications, or stimulation
- Are seeking a non-opioid option for severe neuropathic pain
- Also struggle with the depression that so often accompanies CRPS — ketamine can address both
- Uncontrolled high blood pressure or unstable cardiovascular disease
- Significant liver disease — pain protocols involve larger cumulative exposure and require screening
- A history of psychosis
- Active substance-use concerns that haven't been evaluated
Outcomes, Honestly Stated
Responders typically experience meaningful pain reduction — not always elimination — beginning during or shortly after the infusion series, with relief that commonly lasts weeks to a few months before maintenance treatment is needed. For many patients, that window is transformative: sleep returns, physical therapy becomes tolerable, and life stops orbiting the pain. Some patients get partial relief and some do not respond; CRPS is a difficult disease, and anyone promising uniform results isn't being honest with you.
Risks and side effects
During and shortly after infusion, patients may experience dissociation, elevated blood pressure or heart rate, nausea, dizziness, or drowsiness. These effects are typically temporary and most resolve within roughly two hours of the infusion ending. Because pain protocols involve longer and repeated exposure, screening also covers liver and bladder health, and cumulative exposure is tracked across your treatment course — one of the reasons physician-directed protocols and monitoring matter. You'll need a ride home after each session.
What the Research Shows
CRPS is among the best-studied applications of ketamine for pain. Placebo-controlled trials of outpatient multi-day infusion protocols have shown significant reductions in pain scores lasting well beyond the infusion period, and systematic reviews consistently identify ketamine as one of the most promising interventions for refractory CRPS while calling for larger long-term studies.
CRPS Treatment FAQ
How is a pain infusion different from a depression infusion?
Pain protocols generally use longer infusion times and different titration, delivered over consecutive or closely spaced sessions. Your protocol is built for your diagnosis — which is why the evaluation with our clinical team comes first.
Can ketamine help the depression that came with my CRPS?
Often, yes — and it's one of ketamine's genuine advantages for CRPS patients, since the same medication has demonstrated effects on both severe pain and treatment-resistant depression. We'll discuss both goals in your evaluation.
Do I need a referral?
No referral is required, though we welcome coordination with your existing pain specialist and can share records with your consent.
You've Spent Years Proving Your Pain Is Real.
We Already Believe You.
Your free consultation is a conversation with a clinical team that understands CRPS — about your history and whether ketamine is a reasonable option for you.
Request Your Free ConsultationCall (435) 522-5190This page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Ketamine is FDA-approved as an anesthetic; its use for CRPS and chronic pain is off-label. Study findings cited reflect published research; individual results vary and are not guaranteed. Reading this page or submitting a form does not create a provider-patient relationship. For medical emergencies, call 911.