A Study to Decrease Suicidal Thinking Using Ketamine
Status:
Withdrawn
Trial end date:
2017-08-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Depression treatment typically is slow acting. Patients presenting with acute suicidality
have few immediate treatment options. However, sub-anesthetic doses of ketamine have been now
widely tested as a rapid-acting treatment for depression. Gregory Larkin et al at Yale showed
this could be applied to suicidal patients, with 14 of 15 participants showing remission of
suicidal thinking within 40 min of the administration of ketamine, with 13 showing lasting
remission out to 10 days. No serious side effects were reported. This project proposes to
conduct a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of this, same intervention in military
patients recently hospitalized for suicidal thinking. After being assessed, and giving
informed consent, participants would receive 0.2mg/kg ketamine or placebo. Their suicidal
thinking, depression, and other symptoms would be monitored acutely for 240 min after drug
infusion, and the for lasting changes the next day, at hospital discharge, 2 weeks, and 10
weeks. Potential adverse events will be monitored via the electronic medical record for up to
a year.