Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Ketamine Versus Electroconvulsive Therapy in Major Depressive Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
The Psychiatric quarterly February 18, 2025 Zhijian Ma, Fengle Wu, Wen Zheng 4 citations
Ketamine is a non-inferior treatment option to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for major depressive disorder, with potential advantages in memory function. A meta-analysis of six randomized controlled trials involving 643 patients found no significant difference between ketamine and ECT in reducing depression symptom severity or in response rates. However, ketamine was associated with superior memory function improvement compared to ECT. Ketamine also led to higher rates of dissociative symptoms, blurred vision, and dizziness, but a lower incidence of muscle pain. The limited number of studies highlights the need for further large-scale randomized controlled trials to confirm these findings.