TDNet Discover

Background: Currently available antidepressant therapies for major depressive disorder (MDD) and treatment-resistant depression (TRD) have many limitations. A substantial portion of MDD and TRD patients are shown to be resistant to the available antidepressant therapies, with almost 30% of these patients showing a depletion in glutamate, rather than serotonin, as a contributory factor to their condition. Ketamine is a non-competitive, non-selective N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist which has been found to trigger glutamate production in the brain. With recent research highlighting the benefits of ketamine as a rapid-onset antidepressant, its use as an emergent therapeutic in psychiatric acute care is continuously expanding. Purpose: To examine the efficacy of ketamine infusions in providing rapid-onset suicidal ideation relief in the immediate short term and up to six-week post-infusion in an emergent setting. Methods: A systematic review was conducted between December 2022 - January 2023 across PubMed, Google Scholar, and Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine Results: Ketamine in conjunction with mainstay treatments for acute depressive episodes resulted in remission of suicidal ideation (SI) three days after two ketamine infusions and proved efficacious in treating patients who suffer from treatment resistant depression (TRD). Conclusion: Ketamine shows promise in treating acute episodes of depression and patients with SI. Studies showed remission of SI was fully achieved in three days and for six weeks in patients who suffer from TRD. Extensive research will need to be continued to assess ketamine’s use on its own rather than in combination with mainstay treatments for acute depressive episodes, proper dosing to avoid risk of abuse, and studies involving larger populations