"Novel Management of Depression Using Ketamine in the Intensive Care Unit".
Abhishek R GiriNirmaljot KaurSiva Naga S YarrarapuKathleen A Rottman PietrzakChristan SantosPhilip E LowmanShehzad NiazPablo Moreno FrancoDevang K SanghaviPublished in: Journal of intensive care medicine (2022)
A major drawback of ketamine is that the duration of clinical improvement is short, with the response lasting only up to seven days after a single dose. Hence, all the patients in our study were weaned off ketamine with a supporting antidepressant. Ketamine has been documented to cause cardio-neurotoxicity; however, only one patient had worsening lethargy in our study. To conclude, ketamine has a marked benefit in treating depression in the ICU. Although our study was associated with positive outcomes, there is a need for prospective studies with long-term follow-up assessments.