The KARMA-Dep Trial will investigate whether patients recover more quickly from depression with ketamine rather than with a placebo.
Ketamine is an anaesthetic drug routinely used in clinical practice. It acts on the glutamate neurotransmitter system within the brain . One of the most exciting developments in recent years for treating depression is the discovery that ketamine can improve depressive symptoms with efficacy onset within one hour. The effect of a single low-dose sub-anaesthetic infusion can be sustained for up to several days. Because of these remarkable findings, there is now great interest in assessing ketamine as a novel therapy for depression.
The KARMA-Dep Trial is a randomised controlled pilot trial. We are investigating whether in-patients with depression recover more quickly with adjunctive, or add-on, ketamine rather than with a placebo. All other therapies prescribed by one’s treating team continue as usual.