Cure My Disease

Don't miss your cure!

 Log in / Sign up

Ketamine, long used as an anesthetic, tested as a seizure treatment

NCT ID NCT05019885

Symptom relief Sponsor: Madeline Fields Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the study statuses mean

This study's is highlighted.

Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed This study
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Sep 11, 2026 · Last updated Sep 11, 2026

Summary

Researchers are testing whether low-dose intravenous ketamine can reduce seizures in adults with drug-resistant epilepsy, meaning their seizures have continued despite trying at least two anti-seizure medications. Twelve participants receive ketamine three times a week for two weeks. The study tracks whether seizures drop by half during treatment and in the following month, and whether seizure frequency returns to its previous level within three months.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
ketamine, given intravenously at low, non-anesthetic doses
What this could lead to
If it works, low-dose ketamine could become a new option for people whose seizures continue despite multiple anti-seizure drugs.
What could go wrong
This is a small Phase 2 pilot with 12 participants, so any benefit may not hold up in larger studies. Ketamine can cause dissociation, blood pressure changes, and other side effects, and its long-term safety for repeated outpatient use in epilepsy is not established.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Phase 2

Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.

Participants

12 people

The number who actually took part.

Started

Aug 2022

Finished

Jun 2026

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Provision of signed and dated informed consent form * Adults (18 years or older) * Cognitively impaired adults are not excluded (i.e. will be included in the study) * Established diagnosis of Drug Resistant Epilepsy (DRE) i.e. failed two or more appropriately chosen anti-seizure medications (ASMs) * EEG consistent with focal or generalized epilepsy * Patients must have \>4 focal aware, focal impaired aware, focal to bilateral tonic clonic or generalized tonic clonic seizures per month. * Patients can be on \>/= 1 anti-seizure medication (ASM) at the time of enrollment on stable doses 12 weeks prior to initiation * Patients on Epilepsy devices: Vagal nerve stimulator (VNS), Deep brain stimulator (DBS) or Responsive Nerve Stimulator (RNS) must have remained stable for at least 4 weeks before the screening visit. Adjustment of devices is not allowed during the study. Exclusion Criteria * Patients \<18 years of age * Pregnant women * Women that are breast feeding * Patients who had \>21 days of seizure freedom in the last year. * Patients with a history of status epilepticus within 3 months of screening * Patients with a history of alcoholism of drug misuse within the last 2 years * Unstable medical illness * Serious or imminent suicidal or homicidal risk * Patients with cardiovascular disease * Patients with schizophrenia * Patients with history of aneurysm or aortic dissection, arteriovenous malformation and intracerebral hemorrhage * Patients that are immobile i.e. wheel chair bound, bed ridden individuals * Patients on psychostimulants (amphetamines, methylphenidate etc.) and Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (selegiline, isocarboxazid, phenelzine etc.)

Get updates

Get notified about this study

Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Drug resistant epilepsy are added.

Our safety recommendation!

By submitting, you agree to our Terms of use

Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Drug Resistant Epilepsy

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Drug resistant epilepsy Medically refractory epilepsy Refractory epilepsy

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Mount Sinai Hospital

    New York, New York, 10035, United States

More trials for these conditions

Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.