Ketamine and Lorazepam Instead of ECT: Case Report From France

 Out on PubMed, from clinicians in Nantes, France, is this case report:

[Ketamine and lorazepam combination as an alternative to electroconvulsive therapy for catatonia in late-life depression: A case report].

Laurin A, Capelle N, Bukowski N, Le Page A, Gendre I, Sauvaget A, Bulteau S.Encephale. 2023 Mar 10:S0013-7006(23)00014-3. doi: 10.1016/j.encep.2023.01.003. Online ahead of print.PMID: 36907667 French. No abstract available.
The full report is not yet available to me, but we see that a psychotically depressed, suicidal geriatric patient with food and liquid refusal, described as "catatonic," was successfully treated with a combination of IV ketamine and lorazepam instead of ECT. 
We do need to know if the diagnosis was accurate, how severe the catatonia was, and other aspects of the management.
If true, this is noteworthy, but one case does not an algorithm make, and just as it may be inappropriate to treat urgently ill catatonic patients with RUL, instead of BL ECT, it may be inappropriate, in most situations, to prescribe this medication combination instead of ECT. Only time will tell...

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