Publications by authors named "Robin L Okada"
Background: The endogenous opioid system is thought to play a role in the placebo antidepressant response. A recent trial comparing the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine versus placebo in surgical patients, some of whom were on chronic opioid therapy, revealed a substantial placebo effect. This finding provided an opportunity to test the hypothesis that opioid agonist exposure interacts with placebo antidepressant responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Within the perioperative period, depression-related diagnoses are associated with postoperative complications. We developed a perioperative depression screening programme to assess disease prevalence and feasibility for intervention.
Methods: Adult patients in multiple surgical departments at a single academic centre were screened for depression via the electronic health record patient portal or preoperative anaesthesia clinic before surgery, using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-2 and -8.
Ketamine may have antidepressant properties, but its acute psychoactive effects complicate successful masking in placebo-controlled trials. We present a single-center, parallel-arm, triple-masked, randomized, placebo-controlled trial assessing the antidepressant efficacy of intravenous ketamine masked by surgical anesthesia (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03861988).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Ketamine, when used in a controlled trial for major depressive disorder, showed no significant difference in depression severity compared to a placebo.
- The study involved 40 adults who received either ketamine or saline during routine surgical anesthesia, with depression severity measured at 1, 2, and 3 days post-infusion.
- Results indicated similar depression response rates in both groups, and the trial effectively masked treatment assignment; however, using surgical anesthesia for such studies may not be practical.