Why was this research done?

Neuropathic pain is sometimes described as shooting pain or burning pain or a sensation of electrical shock. It is caused by injury or dysfunction of nerves within the central nervous system (brain or spinal cord) or peripheral nervous system (nerves outside of the brain or spinal cord). Ketamine and magnesium are agents that bind to pain receptors causing relief in some chronic pain conditions. Researchers wanted to know if ketamine infusions with or without magnesium would reduce neuropathic pain. The results show that ketamine with or without magnesium did not reduce pain more than placebo. It is possible that the doses of ketamine and magnesium used in the study were too low, the study was too small to detect a difference or the placebo effect was too strong.