Chronic Daily Headache

Chronic daily headaches (CDH) poses a significant burden on patients, healthcare systems and the society. Intravenous (IV) ketamine infusion, an intervention that is widely available and scalable, can treat CDH by reversing receptor-mediated sensitization. This study is a multicenter, placebo-controlled, parallel group randomized trial with blinding of participants and observers with the goal of comprehensively assessing the effect of high-dose IV ketamine infusion (1 mg.kg-1.h-1 for six hours) on the frequency and intensity of headaches, mood, activity, sleep, quality of life and safety of ketamine for three months after the interventions. Use of validated questionnaires, wearable technology, a research team that includes investigators with expertise in studying ketamine and in evaluating treatments for CDH and pain syndromes are some of the unique features of this project. Our study aims to prospectively assess the efficacy and safety of high-dose intravenous ketamine infusions compared to saline infusions in participants with CDH syndrome.

Study is aimed at determining why some patients with episodic headache proceed to chronic daily or near daily headaches. The Investigators seek to discover differences in brain anatomy and function, composition of cerebrospinal fluid, blood products, genetics, and patient phenotypes that might help explain this process.