Ketamine psychotherapy for heroin addiction: immediate effects and two-year follow-up.
Evgeny Krupitsky, Andrey Burakov, Tatyana N. Romanova, Igor Dunaevsky, Rick J. Strassman, Alexander Grinenko
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment December 1, 2002 DOI: 10.1016/s0740-5472(02)00275-1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Double-blind Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 70 |
| Population | Detoxified heroin-addicted patients |
| Intervention | Ketamine psychotherapy (KPT) |
| Dose | 2.0 mg/kg im (high dose) and 0.2 mg/kg im (low dose) |
| Duration | First two years of follow-up |
| Topics | Psychedelic-assisted therapy Addiction Esketamine Ketamine |
| Keywords | Addiction treatment Substance abuse treatment Drug rehabilitation Recovery therapy Dependency treatment Addiction recovery Drug treatment Ketamine therapy Ketamine-assisted therapy Ketamine intervention Ketamine treatment Ketamine psychotherapy Psychedelic treatment Psychedelic medicine Hallucinogen-assisted therapy Heroin addiction Opioid addiction Heroin dependency Opiate use disorder Heroin abuse Heroin treatment |
| Citations | 240 |
| Key findings | High-dose ketamine psychotherapy produced significantly greater abstinence, reduced craving, and improved emotional attitudes in heroin addicts over two years compared to low-dose ketamine psychotherapy. |
Abstract
Seventy detoxified heroin-addicted patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups receiving ketamine psychotherapy (KPT) involving two different doses of ketamine. The patients of the experimental group received existentially oriented psychotherapy in combination with a hallucinogenic ("psychedelic") dose of ketamine (2.0 mg/kg im). The patients of the control group received the same psychotherapy combined with a low, non-hallucinogenic (non-psychedelic), dose of ketamine (0.2 mg/kg im). Both the psychotherapist and patient were blind to the dose of ketamine. The therapy included preparation for the ketamine session, the ketamine session itself, and the post session psychotherapy aimed to help patients to integrate insights from their ketamine session into everyday life. The results of this double blind randomized clinical trial of KPT for heroin addiction showed that high dose (2.0 mg/kg) KPT elicits a full psychedelic experience in heroin addicts as assessed quantitatively by the Hallucinogen Rating Scale. On the other hand, low dose KPT (0.2 mg/kg) elicits "sub-psychedelic" experiences and functions as ketamine-facilitated guided imagery. High dose KPT produced a significantly greater rate of abstinence in heroin addicts within the first two years of follow-up, a greater and longer-lasting reduction in craving for heroin, as well as greater positive change in nonverbal unconscious emotional attitudes than did low dose KPT.
In the evidence
This study is part of the evidence base for 2 syntheses in the library. Here is how each one recorded it.
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High-dose (2.0 mg/kg) ketamine psychotherapy produced significantly greater two-year abstinence, greater and longer-lasting craving reduction, and greater positive change in unconscious emotional attitudes than low-dose (0.2 mg/kg) ketamine psychotherapy.
Synthesized
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High-dose ketamine psychotherapy (2.0 mg/kg) produced significantly greater abstinence, reduced craving, and improved emotional attitudes over two years compared with low-dose ketamine psychotherapy.
Synthesized
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on ketamine and psychedelic-assisted therapy, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Versus Repeated Sessions of Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy for People with Heroin Dependence Detoxified inpatients with heroin dependence | 2007 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 59 |
| Psychotherapy for Ketamine's Enhanced Durability in Chronic Neuropathic Pain: Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Patients with chronic neuropathic pain at the Chronic Pain Clinic, St. Michael's... | 2024 | Pilot randomized controlled trial | n = 30 |
| Neuroimaging correlates and predictors of response to repeated-dose intravenous ketamine in PTSD: preliminary evidence Participants with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 2021 | Randomized clinical trial | n = 21 |
| Ketamine assisted psychotherapy to reduce chronic neuropathic pain: A mixed-methods randomized pilot trial. | 2026 | Mixed-methods randomized pilot trial |