Is ketamine efficacious for rapid treatment of acute suicidal ideation in an emergency setting? Lessons learned from a pilot randomized controlled trial.
BMC research notes February 12, 2025 Maryam Barzkar, Kaveh Alavi, Kazem Malakouti et al. 1 citation
A single infusion of ketamine did not outperform midazolam in rapidly reducing severe suicidal ideation among acutely suicidal inpatients. In a double-blind randomized controlled trial with 36 participants, both groups showed significant decreases in suicidality scores on the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation and the Suicide-Visual Analog Scale at 12 and 24 hours after treatment, but the differences between the groups were not statistically significant. The midazolam group had higher baseline suicidality scores and a higher rate of borderline personality disorder, complicating comparisons.