Esketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression

Methods These bulletins are not systematic reviews and do not involve critical appraisal or include a detailed summary of study findings. Rather, they present an overview of the technology and available evidence. They are not intended to provide recommendations for or against a particular technology. Literature Search A limited literature search was conducted using the following bibliographic databases: MEDLINE, Embase, PsychInfo, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library. Grey literature was identified by searching relevant sections of the Grey Matters checklist ( https://www.cadth.ca/grey-matters ). No methodological filters were applied. The search was limited to English-language documents but not limited by publication year. Regular alerts updated the search until project completion; only citations retrieved before March 13, 2019 were incorporated into the analysis. Study Selection One author screened the literature search results and reviewed the full text of all potentially relevant studies. Studies were considered for inclusion if the intervention was esketamine (S-ketamine) and studied for treatment-resistant depression in a phase III trial. Conference abstracts and grey literature were included when they provided additional information to that available in the published studies. Peer Review A draft version of this bulletin was reviewed by one clinical expert. The drug manufacturer also provided input on an earlier draft of this report.