Long-term outcomes of repeated ketamine infusions in patients with unipolar and bipolar depression: A naturalistic follow-up study

Summary & key facts

Researchers followed people with major depression (including bipolar depression) who received repeated ketamine infusions in a regular clinic setting. Many patients improved quickly after the infusions, but those improvements usually did not last forever. Over time a large share of people needed more treatment to keep feeling better. The study shows what tends to happen with repeated ketamine given in real medical care, but it does not prove the best long-term plan or fully settle long-term safety questions.

Key facts:

• The study followed patients treated with multiple ketamine infusions in routine clinical care rather than in a tightly controlled research trial.
• Many patients showed a rapid reduction in depressive symptoms shortly after the course of ketamine infusions.
• The antidepressant effects commonly decreased over time, and a substantial number of patients required additional treatment during the follow-up period.
• Because this was a naturalistic follow-up (real-world clinic data), the results tell us about typical outcomes in practice but cannot prove cause-and-effect as a controlled experiment can.
• The study reported mostly short-lived side effects during treatment, but it did not settle questions about long-term safety or the best maintenance approach for keeping benefits.

Topics

Mental Health Research Topics Treatment of Major Depression Tryptophan and brain disorders

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Pharmacology

Tags

Antidepressant Bipolar disorder Depression (economics) Economics Global Assessment of Functioning Hippocampus Internal medicine Ketamine Macroeconomics Mathematics Medicine Mood Psychiatry Psychology Repeated measures design Schizophrenia (object-oriented programming) Statistics

Substances

Ketamine

Conditions & symptoms

Depression Sadness or low mood