Ketamine Treatment Options in West Virginia

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of SLS-002 (intranasal racemic ketamine) in addition to standard of care on symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and suicidality, in participants who are assessed to be at imminent risk for suicide, as measured by the change from baseline on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score at 24 hours post first dose. Read Less

Studies have shown that ketamine is very effective and has a quick onset in treatment of depression. Most of these studies used intravenous ketamine in an inpatient setting and there are no large trials examining its use in Post Stroke Depression (PSD). There have been only few studies that have used other routes of administration (i.e., oral, transmucosal, intranasal, intramuscular) of ketamine which provided symptom relief for depression. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness and safety of use of transmucosal ketamine in treatment of PSD. We hypothesize that fast acting antidepressant effects can be achieved with tolerable side effects for translation into the general post-stroke population. To test our hypothesis, the specific aim is to: (1) demonstrate that transmucosal administration of ketamine is feasible within the post-stroke depression population and has tolerable side effects. Exploratory aims will include assessment if ketamine also produces fast acting antidepressant effects. Read Less

Oral mucositis (inflammation of the lining of the mouth) is a very common adverse effect when chemotherapy and radiation therapy are used to treat cancer. Mucositis occurs in about 40% of patients receiving standard dose chemotherapy, 80% of patients receiving radiation therapy of the head and neck, and up to 100% of patients undergoing a bone marrow transplant. Because the pain from mucositis can be so bad it can cause the inability to eat or drink, inability to talk, gagging and drooling. Many times mucositis can affect cancer treatment because patients may have to be given a lower dose of a drug or stop treatment completely. There are not many treatments today that can help relieve the severe pain caused from mucositis. This research study will help researchers determine if using an oral mouthwash called Ketamine will help lessen mucositis pain. Ketamine is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use with general anesthesia, sedation and for severe pain. WVU Hospital is now using Ketamine mouthwash as a standard treatment option for mucositis pain. During this study patients will be assessed to determine the level of pain caused by their mucositis. This will occur before the first dose, one hour after the first dose, and then daily until they are no longer on the study. Patients will use the mouthwash by swishing and spitting (20mg/5ml) four times each day, and also every four hours as needed. Patients will use the mouthwash on this study until their mucositis gets better or until the mucositis gets worse (or if the pain does not get better after three days of treatment). Read Less