The CGI-SS-r is a single-item scale with scores ranging from 0 to 6. Esketamine was not significantly effective in reducing suicidality relative to placebo on this measure either at 24 hours or after 25 days. At 24 hours, CGI-SS-r scores were changed by –1.5 with esketamine and –1.3 with placebo, giving a non-significant mean difference between esketamine and placebo of –0.20. Hence, while efficacious in reducing depressive symptoms in people with depression and suicidality, antisuicidal effects of esketamine in such individuals have not been demonstrated.Expectations were initially very high for ketamine and esketamine for treatment of depression based on early small-scale clinical studies, with discovery of the rapid and ostensibly robust antidepressant effects of ketamine described by some authors as "the most important advance in the field of psychiatry in the past half century". According to a 2018 review, ketamine showed more than double the antidepressant effect size over placebo of conventional antidepressants in the treatment of depression based on the preliminary evidence available at the time (Cohens d = 1.3–1.7 for ketamine, Cohens d = 0.8 for midazolam (active placebo), and Cohens d = 0.53–0.81 for conventional antidepressants). However, the efficacy of ketamine/esketamine for depression declined dramatically as studies became larger and more methodologically rigorous. The effectiveness of esketamine for the indication of TRD is described as "modest" and is similar in magnitude to that of other antidepressants for treatment of MDD. The comparative effectiveness of ketamine and esketamine in the treatment of depression has not been adequately characterized.
Esketamine, also known as (S)-ketamine or S(+)-ketamine, is the S(+) enantiomer of ketamine, is a dissociative hallucinogen drug used as a general anesthetic and as an antidepressant for treatment of depression. It is sold under the brand names Spravato (for depression), Ketanest (for anesthesia), among others. Esketamine is the active enantiomer of ketamine in terms of NMDA receptor antagonism and is more potent than racemic ketamine.It is specifically used as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and for major depressive disorder (MDD) with co-occurring suicidal ideation or behavior. Its effectiveness for depression is modest and similar to that of other antidepressants. Esketamine is used by infusion into a vein for anesthesia and under direct medical supervision as a nasal spray once or twice weekly for depression.Adverse effects of esketamine include dissociation, dizziness, sedation, nausea, vomiting, vertigo, numbness, anxiety, lethargy, increased blood pressure, and feelings of drunkenness. Less often, esketamine can cause bladder problems. Esketamine acts primarily as a N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist but also has other actions.In the form of racemic ketamine, esketamine was first synthesized in 1962 and introduced for medical use as an anesthetic in 1970. Enantiopure esketamine was introduced for medical use as an anesthetic in 1997 and as an antidepressant in 2019. It is used as an anesthetic in the European Union and as an antidepressant in the United States and Canada. Due to misuse liability as a dissociative hallucinogen, esketamine is a controlled substance. Medical uses
Anesthesia
Esketamine is a general anesthetic and is used for similar indications as ketamine.