A rapid systematic review of palliative uses of ketamine for depression and pain in people living with advanced cancer

Background

Given the growing population of patients living with metastatic cancer, palliative care providers need every available tool for symptom management. We conducted a rapid review of the literature on palliative uses of ketamine for pain and depression in people with cancer.

Methods

We systematically searched for studies published since 2015 that examined palliative uses of ketamine in adults with cancer using clinical trial, experiment, quasi-experiment, or meta-analytic designs. We excluded studies focused on perioperative or post-operative sedation and/or pain, and studies lacking patient-reported outcomes.

Results