THE IMPACT OF INTRANASAL ESKETAMINE ON TREATMENT-RESISTANT DEPRESSION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
International Journal of Innovative Technologies in Social Science June 25, 2026 Wojciech Kotlarski, Klaudia Magdalena Kotlarska, Tomasz Stanisław Mainka et al.
Intranasal esketamine, an adjunctive therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), shows clinically relevant benefits but carries a high burden of adverse effects. A systematic review of five meta-analyses and real-world studies found that esketamine outperformed control conditions on depression severity, response rates, disability, and patient-reported symptoms, with effect sizes favoring esketamine. However, adverse events such as dizziness, nausea, and dissociation were more common, and real-world data reported an 82% prevalence of adverse events. The authors conclude that intranasal esketamine requires supervised delivery and sustained follow-up, and that further research is needed on long-term outcomes and cost-effectiveness.