First randomized clinical trial shows efficacy of intravenous ketamine for treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
First randomized clinical trial shows efficacy of intravenous ketamine for treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
A team of researchers put intravenous (IV) ketamine therapy to the test in forty-one patients with chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Their results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry (JAMA Psychiatry). This was the first randomized clinical study of its kind, pinning IV ketamine against an active placebo, IV midazolam. The primary outcome measure of the study was change in PTSD symptom severity. To this end, ketamine was associated with “significant and rapid reduction in PTSD symptom severity, compared with midazolam”. Interestingly, ketamine was also associated with a reduction in comorbid depressive symptoms and an improvement in overall clinical presentation, a novel finding in these difficult to treat patients.
Further, the authors found intravenous ketamine in this cohort of patients to be well tolerated without clinically significant persistent dissociative symptoms. This study provides the first evidence for the rapid treatment of PTSD using intravenous ketamine—a finding that will hopefully support novel approaches to the pharmacologic treatment of patients with this disabling condition.
Dr. Ashraf Hanna, M.D. and his team of expert clinicians at the Florida Spine Institute utilize IV ketamine infusion therapy to treat a myriad of diseases. To find out if IV ketamine might be right for you, please make an appointment with Dr. Hanna.
Full Article: Feder A, Parides MK, Murrough JW, et al. Efficacy of Intravenous Ketamine for Treatment of Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2014;71(6):681-688. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.62.