*7.1. Current Research*

To date, there have been few studies investigating the therapeutic use of ketamine for AN, most of which have been case series or reports. Table 2 provides an overview of the study characteristics and main findings; all studies found reductions in the main outcome measures, including depression scores, suicidality and eating disorder psychopathology [171–174]. To date, all investigations of ketamine as a treatment for AN have been in adult patients. We would recommend that initial RCTs use SE-AN samples, who are typically adults due to the long duration of the illness as a criterion for inclusion and often have comorbid depression. However, given that ketamine has been found to alleviate depression in adolescents [74], future studies may endeavour to use it in a younger sample of patients with AN.

**Table 2.** Characteristics and main findings of studies of ketamine as a treatment for patients with eating disorders.


Notes: IM = intramuscular, IV = intravenous, MDD = major depressive disorder, N = number, SE-AN = severe-enduring anorexia nervosa, SE-ED = severe-enduring eating disorders and TRD = treatment-resistant depression.

> In all studies, no severe side effects were reported beyond those expected (e.g., transient headaches, mild nausea and sedation). However, as off-label, small and uncontrolled trials, these studies provided only preliminary evidence for its efficacy. To date, there have been no well-controlled feasibility studies using a large sample, although there is a pilot double-blinded crossover trial of oral ketamine versus midazolam registered on the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (REG: ACTRN12618001393246p).
