Dr. Nathan Kartchner, MD
Jared Shober, FNP
Amber Hunter, FNP
Josh Larsen LCMHC, SUDC
Ketamine Therapy
Ketamine St George Infusion Clinic offers ketamine infusion therapy for treatment resistant depression, anxiety, PTSD, complex regional pain syndrome and other conditions. We take great pride in providing our community with this potentially life altering therapy. Our staff of highly skilled medical professionals are trained specifically in Ketamine Infusion Therapy as well as Ketamine Assisted Therapy (KAP). Contact us if you have any questions or to set up a FREE consultation appointment
Ketamine Therapy
Blocking the NMDA receptor and preventing the passage of ions through the channel interrupts pain signal transduction, giving central pain centers a chance to “reboot”. This often requires that a patient undergo a series of low dose ketamine infusions for dramatic or complete elimination of their symptoms. Ketamine infusions have been most often used when other treatment modalities have failed. Certain types of pain considered to be “neuropathic” in origin have been most studied and are considered to be most responsive to ketamine therapy.
About
Ketamine can be an alternative to psychiatric medications, or be used to minimize or simplify medication regimens. The patient’s experience with an intravenous medication used in psychiatry relies not only on the chemical composition of the compound, but also is affected by the experience and skill of the clinician administering it. Believing that much of that suffering was unnecessary, more clinicians are turning to Ketamine treatment as an alternative to other treatments and medications because of the success they've seen, when administered correctly. Since administering nearly 5000 IV ketamine infusions as of summer 2020, they repeatedly saw patients’ symptoms rapidly improve with the use of ketamine after other treatment modalities failed to bring relief.
Ketamine is not a new drug. It has been used for five decades in human and veterinarian medicine. Ketamine is an anesthetic drug that was introduced into clinical practice in 1970. At anesthetic doses, it results in a complete loss of consciousness while preserving certain protective reflexes. That has made it attractive to anesthesiologists in selective patients. While it does stimulate opiate receptors, much like morphine, its NMDA receptor antagonism at subanesthetic doses is thought to be much more important in the treatment of chronic pain and psychiatric disorders.