Polish standard of treatment with racemic ketamine for patients with depressive disorders developed by a Working Group appointed by the National Consultant in the field of psychiatry.
Piotr Gałecki, Katarzyna Maria Bliźniewska-Kowalska, Wiesław Jerzy Cubała, Anna Depukat, Anna Mosiołek, Janusz Rybakowski, Jerzy Samochowiec, Bogusław Sobolewski, Agata Szulc, Dominika Dudek
Psychiatria Polska June 30, 2024 DOI: 10.12740/PP/189494 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | racemic ketamine |
| Topics | Depression Ketamine Esketamine |
| Keywords | Bipolar disorder Depressive disorders Depression treatment Ketamine therapy Psychiatric medicine Mood disorders |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key findings | The paper presents clinical recommendations for intravenous racemic ketamine as a treatment for depressive symptoms in unipolar and bipolar affective disorder. |
Abstract
The Polish standard of treatment with racemic ketamine for patients with depressive disorders was developed by a Working Group appointed by the National Consultant in the field of psychiatry. Despite the wide range of available medications, as many as one-third of depressed patients do not respond to standard antidepressant treatment, raising the need for an ongoing search for new effective and safe therapies. In recent years, the possible role of overactivity of the glutamatergic system in the etiopathogenesis of depression has again attracted the attention of many experts. The possibility of using substances with a modulating effect on the glutamatergic system in the treatment of depressive disorders has been postulated, among others, the long-known anesthetic ketamine, which is a noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist. This paper summarizes the results of studies on the efficacy and safety of racemic ketamine (administered intravenously) in the treatment of patients with depressive symptoms in the course of both unipolar and bipolar affective disorder, and, meeting the expectations of many practicing psychiatrists wishing to broaden the range of therapies offered to their patients, presents recommendations on indications, contraindications, precautions and the treatment regimen itself with intravenous ketamine for patients with mood disorders.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on ketamine for depression, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Synthesizing the Evidence for Ketamine and Esketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression: An International Expert Opinion on the Available Evidence and Implementation Adults with treatment-resistant depression | 2021 | Review | |
| Ketamine: a paradigm shift for depression research and treatment | 2019 | Review | |
| Rapid‐acting antidepressant ketamine, its metabolites and other candidates: A historical overview and future perspective | 2019 | Review | |
| Ketamine: A tale of two enantiomers | 2020 | Review | |
| Molecular mechanisms underlying the antidepressant actions of arketamine: beyond the NMDA receptor | 2021 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Innovative approaches in the treatment-resistant depression: exploring different therapeutic pathways. GeroScience March 25, 2025
- MODERN STRATEGIES FOR THE TREATMENT OF TREATMENT-RESISTANT DEPRESSION – A LITERATURE REVIEW International Journal of Innovative Technologies in Social Science September 30, 2025
- PolDrugs 2025: results of the third edition of the nationwide study on psychoactive substance use in the context of psychiatry and harm reduction. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2025
- Multimodal predictors of response to intravenous ketamine in treatment-resistant depression: toward personalized treatment in major depressive and bipolar disorders. CNS Spectrums September 28, 2026
Cites 43
- A Randomized Trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate Antagonist in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression Archives of General Psychiatry August 1, 2006
- Ketamine and Ketamine Metabolite Pharmacology: Insights into Therapeutic Mechanisms Pharmacological Reviews June 26, 2018
- Antidepressant Efficacy of Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression: A Two-Site Randomized Controlled Trial American Journal of Psychiatry August 28, 2013
- Synthesizing the Evidence for Ketamine and Esketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression: An International Expert Opinion on the Available Evidence and Implementation American Journal of Psychiatry March 17, 2021
- A Consensus Statement on the Use of Ketamine in the Treatment of Mood Disorders JAMA Psychiatry March 1, 2017
and 38 more in the library