Efficacy and safety of ketamine maintenance therapy in treatment-resistant depression: A systematic review of treatment protocols and clinical outcomes

Summary & key facts

This paper reviewed studies that used ongoing ketamine treatment for people whose depression did not improve with usual therapies. The authors compared how different clinics gave ketamine and what happened to patients. They found that studies report quick mood improvements in many people, but the treatment plans, how long benefits lasted, and safety information were all inconsistent. The review says the current evidence is promising but limited, and more consistent, longer studies are needed to know how safe and helpful maintenance ketamine is over time.

Key facts:

• The authors did a systematic review, which means they collected and summarized existing studies of maintenance ketamine for people with treatment-resistant depression.
• Published studies used many different dosing schedules and ways of giving ketamine, so results are hard to compare directly across studies.
• Many studies reported that ketamine produced rapid improvements in mood for people whose depression had not responded to other treatments.
• Those mood benefits commonly required repeated or ongoing ketamine doses to be maintained; benefits often did not last permanently after a single course.
• Safety and side-effect reporting varied a lot between studies, so long-term risks and harms are not well described in the current research.
• Because studies were small, used different methods, and usually followed people for only a short time, the reviewers concluded that larger and longer studies with consistent methods are needed before strong conclusions can be drawn.

Topics

Digital Mental Health Interventions Treatment of Major Depression Tryptophan and brain disorders

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Pharmacology

Tags

Clinical trial Dosing Duration (music) Intensive care medicine Intervention (counseling) Ketamine Maintenance therapy Medicine MEDLINE Optimal maintenance Outcome (game theory) Patient safety Pharmacotherapy Protocol (science) Selection (genetic algorithm)

Substances

Ketamine

Conditions & symptoms

Depression Lack of energy or motivation Sadness or low mood