Oral ketamine for the treatment of pain and treatment-resistant depression
The British Journal of Psychiatry February 1, 2016 Robert A. Schoevers, Tharcila V. Chaves, Sonya M. Balukova et al. 80 citations
A review of 88 articles examined how ketamine is given (oral, intravenous, intranasal, subcutaneous) for treatment-resistant depression and chronic pain. The methodological quality of studies on ketamine's antidepressant effects was low for all routes. Doses used for depression were lower than those for pain. Studies on pain suggest that oral ketamine may be acceptable for depression in terms of tolerability and side-effects, but few studies have systematically examined longer-term negative consequences. The authors conclude that rigorous randomized controlled trials are needed to study short- and longer-term depression outcomes and side-effects.