SynthesisFrontiers in psychiatry2025
Efficacy of perioperative esketamine on postoperative depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy of esketamine on perioperative anxiety in patients receiving anesthesia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Comparison of the Effective Dose 90 (ED90) and Clinical Outcomes of Fentanyl Versus Esketamine for Analgesia in Hysteroscopy: A Two-Part, Randomized, Double-Blind Trial.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Trial
- Intraoperative esketamine for postoperative analgesia and depression in pancreatic cancer surgery: protocol for a multicenter randomized controlled trial.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Postoperative depression (POD) represents a serious complication in surgical patients, exacerbating morbidity and mortality rates while imposing a substantial economic burden on healthcare systems. Despite its widespread clinical use, the role of esketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist with rapid antidepressant effects, remains understudied in perioperative settings. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of esketamine on postoperative depression. To evaluate the effect of esketamine on the incidence and severity of postoperative depression in different types of surgery by randomized controlled trial, investigate whether esketamine can effectively reduce the postoperative depression score and the incidence of postoperative depression in the short and long term after use, to promote the application of perioperative analgesia-antidepressant combination. Method: Searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the Web of Science, and Medline to identify randomized controlled trials using the drug of esketamine and analyzed the data using Review Manager 5.3. Results: We included a total of 8 randomized controlled trials involving 1724 patients who met the criteria. The meta-analysis revealed that esketamine treatment, compared with control groups, significantly reduced POD. Improvements were observed at 1 week (RD -0.09, 95% CI [-0.13, -0.05], P < 0.0001, I²=84%), 2 weeks (RD -0.08, 95% CI [-0.13, -0.03], P < 0.00001, I²=97%), and long-term follow-up (RD -0.06, 95% CI [-0.10, -0.02], P=0.0002, I²=79%). Conclusion: Esketamine demonstrates efficacy in reducing POD incidence and severity, although its use is associated with an increased risk of adverse effects. Also, the method of drug injection, the duration of administration and the number of doses may have an effect on the results. Therefore, further exploration of appropriate dosing regimens and multi-modal strategies is necessary to mitigate adverse effects. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42024506329.
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