Intravenous ketamine for benzodiazepine deprescription and withdrawal management in treatment-resistant depression: a preliminary report.

ABSTRACT: We present the first evidence that sub-anesthetic ketamine infusions for treatment resistant depression (TRD) may facilitate deprescription of long-term benzodiazepine/z-drugs (BZDRs). Long-term BZDR prescriptions are potentially harmful yet common, partly because of challenging withdrawal symptoms. Few pharmacological interventions have evidence for facilitating BZDR discontinuation, and none in patients actively suffering from TRD. In this ambi-directional cohort study, discontinuation of long-term (>6 month) BZDRs was attempted in 22 patients with severe unipolar or bipolar TRD receiving a course of six subanesthetic ketamine infusions over four weeks. We investigated the rates of successful BZDRs deprescription, trajectories of acute psychological withdrawal symptoms, and subsequent BZ

SUBMITTER: Garel N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10579413 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature