Brinck EV, Maisniemi K, Kankare J, et al. - This study was sought to compare 2 different doses of S-ketamine with placebo on postoperative analgesic consumption, pain, and adverse events in adult, opioid-naïve patients after lumbar fusion surgery. Researchers included a total of 197 opioid-naïve patients who had undergone lumbar spinal fusion surgery in this double-blind trial. Individuals were assigned randomly into 3 study groups: Group C (placebo) received a preincisional IV bolus of saline (sodium chloride [NaCl] 0.9%) followed by an intraoperative IV infusion of NaCl 0.9%. This study’s findings demonstrated that neither a 0.12 nor a 0.6 mg/kg/h infusion of intraoperative IV S-ketamine was superior to the placebo in reducing oxycodone consumption at 48 hours after lumbar fusion surgery in an opioid-naïve adult study population. Further studies are needed to evaluate ketamine’s feasibility in specific study populations who most benefit from reduced opioid consumption.