Yesterday I was letting a patient know that Ketamine infusion may be a great option to treat the depression they have. Today, I see an article on Ketamine and depression on NBC News.
Ketamine is also a great none opiate alternative way to treat pain in patients with
Ketamine works on many receptors in our body including NMDA,
opioid, AMPA, GABA, cholinergic, dopaminergic and innate repair receptors, and antagonism at HCN1, potassium, calcium, and sodium channels.
The excitatory glutamatergic NMDAR is ubiquitously distributed throughout the brain and spinal cord and plays an important role in the development of pain receptors which is probably why it can be used for pain relief.
It can definitely be used to reduce opioid consumption in the hospital setting but one must watch out for schizotypical effects.
Here is a good review article on Ketamine and it’s dosing.
This is the article on Ketamine and its use for depression published in 2016.