Guidelines for ketamine use in clinical psychiatry practice.
BJPsych open – May 10, 2024
Source: PubMed
Summary
Ketamine, once known only as an anesthetic, is emerging as a breakthrough treatment for severe depressive disorders that don't respond to traditional antidepressants. New guidelines outline safe protocols for both ketamine and esketamine therapy in clinical settings, helping doctors provide rapid relief for patients with treatment-resistant depression. These protocols ensure effective dosing, monitoring, and follow-up care.
Abstract
In this editorial, we emphasise the efficacy and challenges of using ketamine in treatment-resistant depression. We highlight the need for comprehensive evidence-based guidelines to manage the use of both licensed and off-licence ketamine formulations and discuss recent efforts by Beaglehole et al to develop ketamine guidelines in New Zealand. We finally advocate for national registries to monitor ketamine therapy, ensuring its responsible and effective use in the management of depression.