Ketamine for depression relapse prevention following electroconvulsive therapy: protocol for a randomised pilot trial (the KEEP-WELL trial).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Major depressive disorder is a common debilitating illness that is the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease. Unfortunately, about 30 % of patients do not respond to adequate trials of antidepressants and/or psychotherapies. About 45-60 % of such treatment-resistant patients will remit with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). However, relapse rates are high following ECT-38 % after 6 months. There is a need for better relapse prevention strategies. One possibility is to use ketamine, a competitive glutamate receptor antagonist used for anaesthesia. A recent paradigm shift in treating depression and understanding its biology has been the finding that ketamine has a robust, rapid-onset, though short-lived, antidepressant effect that is possibly mediated t

SUBMITTER: Finnegan M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5153900 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature