Citation

Kang MJY, Kulcar E, Chandrasena R, Anjum MR, Fairbairn J, Hawken ER, Vazquez GH. Psychiatry Res. 2020; 296: e113645.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113645

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We evaluated the effects of repeated subanesthetic ketamine infusions on suicidal ideation (SI) in patients with major depression. 82 subjects with treatment-resistant unipolar and bipolar depression completed a two-site open-label case-series of repeated (up to four weeks) infusions of ketamine (0.5 mg/kg). Ketamine produced a significant reduction in SI as early as one hour (71.1%) and up to 1-week post-infusion (60.4%), accompanied by a reduction in overall depressive symptoms which were maintained until the 4(th) week. The observed anti-suicidal effect was independent of mood changes, as patients whose mood did not respond still exhibited significantly less SI than baseline.

Language: en

Keywords

Suicide; Ketamine; Major depression; Low dose infusions; Treatment-resistant