Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) accounts for approximately 30% of major depressive disorder cases and has been characterized by altered functional connectivity within and between the Default Mode (DMN) and Frontoparietal networks (FPN). Ketamine can be an effective treatment for TRD, and its antidepressant response has been associated with alterations in resting state functional...
Postoperative depression adversely influences breast cancer patients' clinical outcomes. Our prior study demonstrated that intraoperative esketamine ameliorated postoperative depression in breast cancer patients, yet the underlying neural mechanism remains incompletely understood. We performed a double-blind randomized controlled trial in 35 breast cancer patients with preoperative depressive...
MedicineMarch 6, 2026Hongfei Xiong, Yingxue Xu, Jiayi Liu et al.
This study demonstrates the efficacy of single-dose esketamine regimens, administered orally (ED95: 8.2125 mg/kg; 95% CI: 7.4250-8.4597 mg/kg) and intranasally (ED95: 2.1770 mg/kg; 95% CI: 2.0952-2.1958 mg/kg), in mitigating preoperative anxiety within a pediatric population. These findings highlight the safety and efficacy of esketamine for this patient group.
Schizophrenia is a serious neuropsychiatric disorder marked by oxidative stress, immune system changes, and neurochemical imbalances. Current treatments are constrained by inconsistent effectiveness and side effects. This study evaluates the neuroprotective effects of sabinene, a monoterpene, in a mouse model of ketamine-induced schizophrenia. Male mice received ketamine (20 mg/kg/day, i.p.)...
Approximately 30% of patients with depression suffer from treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Ketamine has shown antidepressant efficacy for TRD. While glutamate α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR) has been demonstrated to play crucial roles in the process of pharmacological action of ketamine in experimental animals, it remains elusive how ketamine exhibits...
Although pain experiences differed among participants, all participants reported decreased pain with ketamine infusions. Addressing the stigma associated with ketamine infusions, further research around augmenting durability of ketamine, and providing a safe treatment environment can all improve ketamine's benefit for chronic neuropathic pain. Understanding the barriers and facilitators, as...
Objective To evaluate outcomes of different doses of esketamine in postoperative patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) combined with preoperative intercostal nerve block (ICNB) analgesia protocol for acute postoperative pain (APP) relief in patients undergoing thoracoscopic lobectomy. Materials and methods A total of 360 patients scheduled for thoracoscopic lobectomy at Xuzhou Central...
Background Bipolar depression remains a leading cause of morbidity, functional impairment, and suicide risk in bipolar disorder. Conventional pharmacotherapies often provide delayed or incomplete relief and may increase the risk of treatment-emergent affective switching. Recent evidence highlights the therapeutic potential of NMDA receptor antagonists, particularly ketamine and its S-enantiomer...
HealthcareMarch 3, 2026Paul Lie, Titus Lie, Madeleine Nguyen et al.1 citation
This narrative literature review explores the clinical use of Ketamine as part of an untested hypothetical model framework for bridge therapy for acute suicidality. Long-term suicide rates continue to increase in the United States and in many other countries, creating a pressing public health challenge with a variety of treatment considerations. Existing standard-of-care SSRI therapeutics have...
Ketamine is a powerful and rapid-acting antidepressant but has no regulatory authorization for any psychiatric illness. The S-enantiomer of ketamine, esketamine, was approved by the FDA in 2019 as adjunctive therapy for treatment-resistant depression. Substantial controversy exists as to whether there is a significant clinical difference between intravenous (IV) ketamine racemate and intranasal...
SVOA Medical ResearchMarch 2, 2026Olumuyiwa A. Bamgbade, Olumide O. Asaolu, Daniel O. Bamgbade et al.
Background: Chronic pain is complicated by comorbid substance misuse. This multifaceted problem increases the risks of polypharmacy, overdose, impaired driving, and avoidable emergency care. Methods: This is an observational study of a convenience sample of twenty adult chronic pain patients who underwent regular monthly intramuscular ketamine for multimodal pain therapy. Ketamine was...
Background: Effective pharmacotherapies for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) are lacking, and factors such as sex, drinking patterns, and timing of treatment during the addiction cycle may influence treatment efficacy. Clinical studies suggest that ketamine may be effective in AUD; however, preclinical findings have been inconclusive, likely due to varying rodent strains, intake protocols, and...
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has long been considered the main method of treatment for patients with resistant major depressive disorder (MDD). Recent studies have shown that ketamine infusion can also effectively improve treatment-resistant MDD. Thus, we conducted this meta-analysis to compare the efficacy of ketamine with ECT for treating treatment-resistant depression. We systematically...
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is increasingly viewed as a disorder of impaired neural plasticity, yet the mechanisms underlying diverse antidepressant classes - glutamatergic (e.g., ketamine), monoaminergic (e.g., selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)), and GABAergic (e.g., neurosteroids) - remain incompletely integrated. The objective of this study was to extend a...
Patients undergoing multiple wound repair surgeries often develop moderate-to-severe anxiety and depression. However, there is a lack of effective rapid emotional intervention strategies during the perioperative period. This multi-centre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involved 130 adult patients (65 in the esketamine group and 65 in the placebo group). Participants were...
Psychospiritual distress (PSD) causes profound suffering in people with serious illness, yet treatment options are few and evidence of their efficacy is modest. Although high-level evidence is limited, decades of preliminary research suggest that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP), including ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP), may alleviate the anxiety, depression, and existential...
Ketamine has been shown to decrease suicidality in patients with depression. However, little is known about tolerability and efficacy in heterogenous, acutely suicidal patients in emergency settings. This pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of generic intranasal racemic ketamine (75 mg) in the treatment of acute suicidality regardless of the underlying...
Dissociation, an altered state of consciousness in which individuals feel detached from their body, environment, and sense of self, is a common feature of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite its significance, the neurocognitive processes underlying dissociation remain poorly understood, potentially limiting diagnostic precision and treatment efficacy in PTSD. To address this gap, we...
BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorder and treatment-resistant depression (TRD) often co-occur, presenting a major clinical challenge with limited effective treatments. However, ketamine produces rapid antidepressant effects and has shown promise in reducing alcohol use, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) can be effective for both substance use and mood disorders. This study explores the...
Abstract: After an episode of painful ovarian torsion, I accepted a surgeon's counsel to undergo a hysterectomy/oophorectomy at the age of forty-six. The sudden menopause this surgery brought on intensified a chronic depression. Several decades later, after undergoing ketamine infusion treatments for my depression, I recognized that surgery as an experience of iatrogenic harm, part of the...