A Comparison of the Efficacy and Adverse Effects of Ketamine and Electroconvulsive Therapy in the Management of Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Systematic Review.

Ketamine has been repeatedly demonstrated to be an effective treatment in the management of patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). An important question is whether it is equally or more effective than the current gold standard of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), as the adverse effects of ECT can lead to memory loss and neurocognitive deficits. A literature search was conducted for trials that directly compared the efficacy and adverse effects of ketamine and ECT via PubMed and Google Scholar.