St. Joseph's Operational Stress Injury Clinic, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada; MacDonald Franklin OSI Research and Innovation Centre, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
2 papers in the library · 13 citations · publishing 2024-2025
Ketamine shows promise for treating chronic pain, depression, and PTSD in military populations, including active-duty personnel and veterans. A meta-analysis of 11 studies (22 samples) found that ketamine use led to significant, moderate-to-large reductions in symptoms across all three conditions, with an overall effect size of g = 1.76. These benefits were consistent regardless of how ketamine was administered, dosage, treatment duration, or whether other treatments were used concurrently. The findings suggest ketamine may be a valuable alternative, especially for those who have not responded to conventional treatments. However, more research is needed to confirm these results.
Depression with co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) leads to more severe symptoms and poorer response to standard treatments. In a retrospective analysis of 134 patients with treatment-resistant depression, four ketamine infusions (0.5-0.75 mg/kg) reduced depressive symptoms equally in those with and without comorbid PTSD; no significant group-by-time interaction was found. PTSD symptoms also significantly improved across all symptom clusters, with moderate to large effect sizes. Ketamine shows promise as an effective intervention for this hard-to-treat population, though future randomized trials should explore factors driving improvement and long-term outcomes.