SynthesisThe international journal of neuropsychopharmacology2021
Ketamine for Bipolar Depression: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ketamine for mood disorders, anxiety, and suicidality in children and adolescents: a systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of racemic ketamine and esketamine for depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Expert opinion on drug safety · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Four Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies for Adults with Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of psychoactive drugsPooled it
- Self-treatment of psychiatric conditions using ketamine: Patterns, characteristics, and retrospective insights.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Open-label Prospective, Interventional Study Assessing Efficacy and Safety of Intramuscular Ketamine for Suicidal Ideation in a Tertiary Care Hospital.Indian journal of psychological medicine · 2025Article
- Review
- Ketamine in clinical practice: transitioning from anesthetic agent to psychiatric therapeutic.CNS spectrums · 2025Review
- Abuse liability for esketamine in a cohort of patients undergoing an acute treatment course to manage treatment-resistant depression: a secondary analysis of an observational study in real-world clinical practicee.Therapeutic advances in drug safety · 2025Article
- From model psychosis to rapid antidepressant: a historical and conceptual review of ketamine's psychiatric history.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2025Review
- Exploring ketamine's reinforcement, cue-induced reinstatement, and nucleus accumbens cFos activation in male and female long evans rats.Neuropharmacology · 2024Article
- Ketamine in neuropsychiatric disorders: an update.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Review
- Outpatient Ketamine Infusions for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain Syndrome: A Case Report.Cureus · 2023Article
- The Role of Ketamine in the Treatment of Bipolar Depression: A Scoping Review.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Pharmacologic Approaches to Suicide Prevention.Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2023Review
- Ketamine for bipolar depression: an updated systematic review.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2023Article
- The Montreal model: an integrative biomedical-psychedelic approach to ketamine for severe treatment-resistant depression.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Article
- Key considerations for the use of ketamine and esketamine for the treatment of depression: focusing on administration, safety, and tolerability.Expert opinion on drug safety · 2022Review
- Efficacy and Tolerability of Two Novel "Standard of Care" Treatments-Intranasal Esketamine Versus Intravenous Ketamine-for Treatment-Resistant Depression in Naturalistic Clinical Practice: Protocol for a Pilot Observational Study.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundKetamine appears to have a therapeutic role in certain mental disorders, most notably unipolar major depressive disorder. However, its efficacy in bipolar depression is less clear. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and tolerability of ketamine for bipolar depression.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review of experimental studies using ketamine for the treatment of bipolar depression. We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Central Register for relevant studies published since each database's inception. We synthesized evidence regarding efficacy (improvement in depression rating scores) and tolerability (adverse events, dissociation, dropouts) across studies.
resultsWe identified 6 studies, with 135 participants (53% female; 44.7 years; standard deviation, 11.7 years). All studies used 0.5 mg/kg of add-on intravenous racemic ketamine, with the number of doses ranging from 1 to 6; all participants continued a mood-stabilizing agent. The overall proportion achieving a response (defined as those having a reduction in their baseline depression severity of at least 50%) was 61% for those receiving ketamine and 5% for those receiving a placebo. The overall response rates varied from 52% to 80% across studies. Ketamine was reasonably well tolerated; however, 2 participants (1 receiving ketamine and 1 receiving placebo) developed manic symptoms. Some participants developed significant dissociative symptoms at the 40-minute mark following ketamine infusion in 2 trials.
conclusionsThere is some preliminary evidence supporting use of intravenous racemic ketamine to treat adults with bipolar depression. There is a need for additional studies exploring longer-term outcomes and alterative formulations of ketamine.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.