Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy

Efficacy of Esketamine Nasal Spray Plus Oral Antidepressant Treatment for Relapse Prevention in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression

Daly EJ, Trivedi MH, Janik A, et al. · JAMA Psychiatry, 2019

This phase 3 trial looked at whether continuing esketamine nasal spray helps people with treatment-resistant depression stay well after they improve. Of 705 adults enrolled, 297 who reached stable remission or stable response after 16 weeks of esketamine plus an oral antidepressant were randomly assigned, double-blind, to keep using esketamine or switch to a placebo spray while staying on their antidepressant. In this study, among those in stable remission, 26.7% relapsed on esketamine versus 45.3% on placebo, and among those in stable response, 25.8% versus 57.6%. Temporary altered taste, vertigo, dissociation, sleepiness and dizziness were the most common side effects. A limitation is that only people who had already done well on esketamine were randomized, so results may not apply to everyone.

Our summaries describe what each study found. They are not medical advice, and the practices at Halcyon are not a treatment for any condition.