KELSEYVILLE >> Specialty Care & Surgery Center is one of the first North Bay locations to offer a relatively new use of the anesthetic drug Ketamine. The center is now providing Ketamine infusions for the treatment of depression.
John Clarke, certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), and chief of the anesthesia department at the Kelseyville center, performs the infusions. The center began offering the service at the beginning of the year. At this time, it is a cash pay procedure not covered by medical insurance.
Ketamine, a common medicine used in most anesthesia departments but abused as a club “party favor” has raised hope for people with severe depression, explained Clarke.
“Research confirms its strong antidepressant effect as well as its ability to dissolve suicidal thoughts in minutes or hours, compared with the weeks or months needed for traditional antidepressants to kick in,” he said.
The American Psychiatric Association expects to support Ketamine treatment for severe depression this year and has commissioned a task force to codify the protocol for the infusions.
Centers for Ketamine infusions exist in southern and central areas of California, as well as other areas of the United States, but none serving the North Bay Area until now, Clarke said.
He believes that Ketamine infusion shows much promise in the rapid reversal of depressive symptoms.
“There is no better feeling than when I watch someone who has suffered from depression for so long see a little daylight from the very first infusion,” he said.
For many, the problems attendant to depression — like chronic pain — seem to improve at the same time, he says. His patients express excitement at the prospect that their pain is being treated at the same time as their depression, an idea that appeals to those incurring high costs of treating both separately.
The Specialty Care & Surgery Center is located at 5685 Main St. in Kelseyville. For more information and/or to schedule an appointment call (707) 279-8733. Visit the center’s website at https://www.drspecialtycare.com.
