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Ketamine for unipolar major depression: critical examination of antidepressant effects

Part of: BJPsych Advances Cochrane Corner and Round the Corner Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 March 2025

Aditya Patel Open the ORCID record for Aditya Patel [Opens in a new window]
Aditya Patel*
Affiliation:
Foundation doctor with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, based in the Department of Psychiatry, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
*
Correspondence Dr Aditya Patel. Email: [email protected]
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Summary

This critical appraisal of a Cochrane Review assesses the efficacy of ketamine for treating unipolar major depressive disorder. The review included 31 randomised controlled trials involving ketamine. Results indicate that intravenous (i.v.) ketamine significantly improves antidepressant response compared with i.v. saline and, to a lesser extent, i.v. midazolam within 24–72 h. However, the evidence is constrained by performance bias owing to masking (‘blinding’) concerns and study heterogeneity, necessitating further robust research to confirm ketamine's clinical potential.

Keywords

Electroconvulsive therapydepressive disordersantidepressantssystematic reviewgeneral adult psychiatry
Type
Round the corner
Information
BJPsych Advances , First View , pp. 1 - 6
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists

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Footnotes

†

Commentary on… Ketamine and other glutamate receptor modulators for depression in adults with unipolar major depressive disorder (Cochrane Corner). See this issue.

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