ketamine
Adjunctive therapy • Brands: Ketalar
Last reviewed: 2025-12-30
General information
- Primary label indications include: Anesthesia (label).
- Class: Adjunctive therapy
- Common US brands: Ketalar
- Therapeutic drug monitoring not routinely recommended.
- Last reviewed: 2025-12-30
Dosing & forms
- Forms/strengths: —
- Frequency: —
- Food: —
- Typical range: —
Mechanism (brief)
Dissociative anesthetic and non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist. Used clinically for anesthesia (label) and increasingly used off-label in monitored settings for rapid symptom relief in treatment-resistant depression (consensus/clinical).
Metabolism & Half‑life
- Metabolism: CYP2B6, CYP3A4, Other CYP enzymes (minor; label)
- Half‑life: Single-dose mean 2.5 h
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM)
Recommended: No
Monitoring highlights
- —
Sources
- KETALAR (ketamine hydrochloride) injection prescribing information — DailyMed (2025)
- A Consensus Statement on the Use of Ketamine in the Treatment of Mood Disorders — JAMA Psychiatry (2017)
- APA Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Depression — American Psychiatric Association (2023)
- CANMAT 2024 Clinical Guidelines for Major Depressive Disorder — Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (2024)