Use of Ketamine in Clinical PracticeA Time for Optimism and Caution
Abstract
Increasing evidence, primarily from small studies, supports the idea that the dissociative anesthetic ketamine has rapid antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-refractory major depression.1 The beneficial effects of ketamine are observed within hours of administration and can last approximately 1 week. Given that up to one-third of patients with major depression fail current treatments,2 there is a clear need for novel and more effective treatments. Results to date have led to increasing off-label use of ketamine in clinical practices, with little guidance about clinical administration. In this issue of the JAMA Psychiatry, Sanacora and colleagues3 provide a much-needed consensus statement to help guide clinical use of ketamine.
Zorumski, C. F., & Conway, C. R. (2017). Use of ketamine in clinical practice: a time for optimism and caution. Jama psychiatry, 74(4), 405-406. 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.0078
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