Ketamine Dosing Strategies

Dive into Ketamine's incredible versatility! This episode explores how tailoring ketamine dosing strategies is key to unlocking its potential across a surprisingly wide range of conditions, from severe depression to pain management. Learn why it's considered a "reset button" for disrupted brain pathways due to its unique action on NMDA receptors, leading to rapid anti-depressant effects often within hours.

The episode highlights the crucial need for individualized treatment plans, emphasizing that the optimal dose and delivery method — whether intravenous, intramuscular, or subcutaneous — vary greatly depending on the patient's age, weight, other medical conditions, and even co-occurring medications. Discover why it's not simply a case of "more is better," with moderate, subanesthetic doses often proving most effective for depression in an "inverted U-shaped" dose-response curve. Understand how repeated infusions can lead to longer-lasting benefits beyond a single dose, making it a promising option for sustained relief in treatment-resistant cases.

This report underscores that ketamine is a powerful tool that requires expert handling and careful monitoring to balance its remarkable therapeutic potential with potential risks and side effects.

Based on the 2025 review: Optimizing Ketamine Dosing Strategies across Diverse Clinical Applications: A Comprehensive review. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MS9.0000000000003580]