Effectiveness of Ketamine for Depression and Suicidal Ideation in the Emergency Department

August 31, 2020 updated by: Kathryn Bress, PharmD, MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center

Rapid Antidepressant Response to Ketamine and Impact on Healthcare Utilization After Administration in the Emergency Department

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of a low-dose ketamine infusion on depression symptoms within the Emergency Department (ED) visit, and healthcare utilization after leaving the ED, when administered in the ED for depression or suicidal ideation.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Patients will be identified based on either a chief complaint of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, or severe depression, or if the patient indicates during intake assessment that they have thoughts of harming or killing their self. Identified patients will be assessed by the ED provider for inclusion and exclusion criteria. If the patient is a candidate for the trial and gives their informed consent for enrollment, they will be randomized to receive either ketamine or placebo by a computer program that maintains blinding. The patient will be assessed by psychiatry for disposition and treatment plan prior to receiving the study drug, and will be reassessed four hours after the infusion. Thirty days after the patient leaves the hospital (either leaves from the ED or is discharged from inpatient admission), they will be contacted to follow up on their healthcare utilization after discharge.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
29

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Iowa
      • Des Moines, Iowa, United States, 50314
        • MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults 18 years of age and older
  • Presenting to the ED with a chief complaint of severe depression or suicidality, or presenting to the ED with any other chief complaint but answering "yes" to "Thoughts of harming/killing yourself?" during intake/triage

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Acute mania or psychosis
  • Enrollment in trial during a prior emergency department visit
  • History of ketamine abuse or dependence
  • Known hypersensitivity to ketamine
  • Acute intoxication with any drug of abuse (including alcohol)
  • Pregnancy or lactation
  • Any condition that would place the patient at serious risk of harm from an increase in blood pressure (e.g. history of intracerebral hemorrhage, aneurysmal vascular disease, or arteriovenous malformation)
  • Assessing provider does not want to enroll patient for any other reason, based on their clinical judgement

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Ketamine
Ketamine 0.5 mg/kg in 0.9% sodium chloride, total volume 50 mL via intravenous infusion over 40 minutes for one dose.
Drug: Ketamine
Active drug
Other Names:
  • Ketalar
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
0.9% sodium chloride, total volume 50 mL via intravenous infusion over 40 minutes for one dose
Drug: Sodium Chloride 0.9%
Placebo
Other Names:
  • Normal Saline

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Depression Symptom Response
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 hours
Patients will be classified as a responder or non-responder, with a response defined as a decrease by 50% or greater for the combined depressive symptom scores of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), which includes the following domains: emotional withdrawal, guilt feelings, depressed mood, blunted affect, feelings of inferiority, and suicidal ideation. The total depressive symptom score ranges from 6-42, with a higher score indicating a higher level of severity. Response rate will be compared between the treatment and placebo groups.
Baseline, 4 hours
ED Return Visit
Time Frame: 30 days from discharge
Number of return visits to the emergency department for any psychiatric reason
30 days from discharge

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Outpatient follow-up
Time Frame: 30 days from discharge
Patients will be contacted at 30 days from discharge to obtain outpatient follow-up data. The two results for this outcome are "yes" or "no" to having at least one outpatient visit, either with a psychiatry provider or with a primary care provider to obtain psychiatric care. The number of outpatient visits an individual patient reports, if greater than one, does not affect this outcome. Attempts will be made to confirm each reported visit with the provider to minimize the potential for subject bias.
30 days from discharge
Intoxication
Time Frame: Baseline, 2 hours, 4 hours
Change in Visual Analog Scale for Intoxication (VAS-High), which ranges from 0 to 8, with a higher score indicating a greater level of impairment.
Baseline, 2 hours, 4 hours
Changes in Individual Psychiatric Symptoms
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 hours
Change in Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) individual symptom scores, with each range from 1-7, with a higher score indicating a higher level of severity. There are 18 total symptoms evaluated on the BPRS.
Baseline, 4 hours
Length of stay
Time Frame: Time from arrival in ED to discharge, either directly from the ED or after inpatient admission. Average length of stay is less than 14 days.
Length of stay in hospital
Time from arrival in ED to discharge, either directly from the ED or after inpatient admission. Average length of stay is less than 14 days.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Kathryn Bress, PharmD, MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center
  • Principal Investigator: Adnan Iqbal, MD, MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 18, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 31, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 31, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 4, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 11, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 12, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 1, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 31, 2020

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • MMC2019-46

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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