About this episode
Contributor: Jared Scott, MD Educational Pearls: Suicide is currently the 10th leading cause of death in the US Low quality studies have reported ketamine as a potential promising agent in treating depression and preventing suicidal ideations or thoughts Randomized study was performed looking at giving ketamine to depressed patients in the ED to see if they could establish a proof of concept, meaning: would looking at ketamine for treatment of acute depression or suicidality be viable? 18 suicidal patients who required hospitalization for their depression and suicidality were entered in the study. 88% of the group treated with ketamine felt like their symptoms improved for up to 3 days, while only 33% of the placebo group reported an improvement References Domany Y, Shelton RC, McCullumsmith CB. Ketamine for acute suicidal ideation. An emergency department intervention: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, proof-of-concept trial. Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269) . 2020;37(3):224-233. doi:10.1002/da.22975. Summarized by Jackson Roos, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD