[Ketamine is a widely used drug in pediatric anesthesia practice, acting primarily through the blockade of the Nmethyl- D-aspartate (NMDA) type of glutamate receptors. A growing body of laboratory evidence, accumulated during the past few years, suggests that this drug could have potential adverse effects on the developing central nervous system. The goal of this short review is to give a brief synopsis of experimental work indicating ketamine-induced developmental neurotoxicity as well as to discuss potential limitations concerning extrapolation of these studies to clinical practice.]

[Objective - In our case report we present the treatment of a female patient suffering from therapy resistant depression. This procedure is not in practice in Hungary at present, the aim of our work to reproduce the findigs of international studies in domestic circumstances. Matter - Major depression is a common, chronic and severe mental disorder, with 16.2% lifetime prevalence. Many international randomized, placebo controlled trials found administration of ketamine infusion effective in depressed patients. Methods - Since ketamine is an anesthetic agent, its administration was performed in the post-operative monitoring room of our hospital operating-room, supervised by an anesthesiologist. According to formerly published data, a dose of 0.5 mg/kg of body weight was administered intravenously in 40 minutes by perfusor. The drug was administered in a same manner fifteen days later. Subject - The patient was admitted to our inpatient ward with severe depression. During two months of combined antidepressant therapy her condition has not improved significantly. Approval for off label drug indication was granted with urgency by the National Institute of Quality and Organizational Development in Healthcare and Medicines. Results - During the two treatments the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 21 items rating scale score was reduced to 8 from the baseline 28, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale score was reduced to 6 from 25, Beck Depression Inventory was reduced to 9 from 20. Upon administration of the drug no severe adverse event was detected, the mild dissociative state related to ketamine was ceased in a short period of time. Discussion - With administration of 0.5 mg/kg ketamine the authors managed to achieve rapid improvement in a therapy resistant depressed patient, without permanent side effects. Our future plan is to repeat the use of the drug within a double-blind, placebo controlled trial in order to prove its efficacy in hospital settings. ]

[The use of opioids to relieve strong, unbearable pain is a method that has been known for thousands of years and is still effective today. In contrast to the earlier view, opioids today are not only given to cancer patients. The application area of morphine derivatives is generally the relief of exceptionally strong pain regardless of the diagnosis, but opiates are undoubtedly most commonly used to treat cancer-related or strong acute pain. Strong pain reducers are used much more in developed countries for the treatment of non-cancer related severe pain refractory to other approaches. Today the use of opiates and their derivatives (fentanyl, oxycodon) for non-cancer related pain relief is recognized by the national health insurance in that it allows general practitioners to prescribe them, upon the recommendation of a neurosurgeon, orthopaedic surgeon, traumatologist or rheumatologist, with a significant 90% subsidy for six months to ensure easy access for patients in severe, refractory pain due to degenerative musculoskelatal diseases (ICD: M47, M48, M16.9, M17.9, M54.4, M51.0, M51.1). The indications of opioid use, however, are not limited to strong nociceptive pain since they are also effective in certain types of peripheral neuropathic pain. In brief, a basic principle of the use of major analgetics is that their indication is primarily based on the intensity of pain and not on the nature of the disease, even though the latter has a major influence on the clinician's strategy of pain relief.]