Comparative Effectiveness of Intravenous Ketamine and Intranasal Esketamine in Clinical Practice Among Patients With Treatment-Refractory Depression: An Observational Study.
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry February 1, 2023 Balwinder Singh, S. Kung, Vanessa K. Pazdernik et al. 64 citations
In adults with treatment-resistant depression, intravenous (IV) ketamine and intranasal (IN) esketamine produced similar rates of symptom improvement and remission, but remission was reached in fewer treatment sessions with IV ketamine. Over up to six IV or eight IN treatments, depressive symptoms were measured before and 24 hours after each session. Among 62 participants (median age 50, 65% female), neither the change in symptom scores nor the proportion achieving response or remission differed significantly between groups. However, time to remission—adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and baseline severity—was five times faster with IV ketamine than with IN esketamine. A randomized controlled trial is needed to confirm these results.