Efficacy of Intravenous Ketamine in Adolescent Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Randomized Midazolam-Controlled Trial.
American Journal of Psychiatry March 3, 2021 J. Dwyer, A. Landeros-Weisenberger, Jessica A. Johnson et al. 163 citations
A single intravenous dose of ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) significantly reduced depressive symptoms in adolescents with major depressive disorder compared with an active placebo (midazolam) 24 hours after infusion, with a large effect size. The improvement appeared to persist for up to 14 days on one depression scale but not another. More participants responded to ketamine during the first three days (76%) than to midazolam (35%). Ketamine caused temporary dissociative symptoms but no serious adverse events. This first controlled trial in adolescents suggests ketamine is well tolerated and has short-term efficacy for treatment-resistant depression.