A single dose of ketamine given in an intravenous (IV) infusion resulted in the rapid reduction of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a proof-of-concept, randomized, double-blind study of 41 patients with chronic PTSD (Feder A et al. JAMA Psychiatry. 2014;71[6]:681-688).
For each procedure day, patients were assigned to receive a single IV infusion of ketamine hydrochloride or midazolam, administered over 40 minutes. The order of infusions was randomly assigned, and administrations were made 2 weeks apart. Midazolam was chosen as the active placebo because its pharmacokinetic parameters and nonspecific behavioral effects are similar to those of ketamine.
Original article: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/1889135
