Abstract
In the elusive hunt for an effective treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD), ketamine is one of the latest medications to be tested. It's an anesthetic, but giving a single small infusion in combination with motivational enhancement therapy can improve measures of drinking, researchers have found. The trial was small but promising, suggesting “new directions in integrated pharmacotherapy‐behavioral treatments for alcohol use disorder,” the authors write in the abstract of their article. The study by Elias Dakwar, M.D., and colleagues was published Dec. 2, 2019, in the American Journal of Psychiatry and follows a slew of studies on the use of ketamine for various substance use and mental disorders. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved esketamine (Spravato) for treatment‐resistant depression, but its use in the real world is limited (see “Esketamine for depression faces real‐world barriers,” ADAW, Oct. 7, 2019, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32501). There are only three medications approved to treat AUD: naltrexone, acamprosate and disulfiram.
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