Combination of ketamine and electroconvulsive therapy in treatment resistant depression.
Journal of affective disorders July 15, 2025 Burcu Kök Kendirlioğlu, Melike Özmen, Sudesu Uluçay et al. 3 citations
For treatment-resistant depression, combining electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) with intravenous ketamine on consecutive days does not improve remission rates over ECT alone. In a retrospective review of 30 patients, both the concurrent-treatment group and the ECT-alone group showed similar treatment response rates of about 67% on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The concurrent group had a significantly higher mean age (56.5 vs. 43.1 years) and more prior depressive episodes. During 6- to 12-month follow-up, 60% of the combined-treatment group and 66.6% of the ECT-alone group avoided hospitalization. The authors suggest that when either treatment alone fails, the concurrent protocol may still be worth trying, but the small sample and retrospective design limit confidence.