Are higher doses of ketamine preferable to lower doses?
Yes. There are only a few medical studies that address this question, but they consistently report that more favorable results are obtained when higher doses of ketamine are administered.
The very low doses that nasal ketamine (also called Spravato) delivers to patients provide relief of symptoms for only a short period of time, requiring long-term administration at least every two weeks, and often every week. Also, very low IV doses are less effective than the modest doses most clinics administer.
Anesthesiologists understand that the higher doses of ketamine they can safely administer to patients provide greater relief of symptoms in a shorter period of time and also allow a longer time period between infusions once the initial treatment regime is completed. Lengthening the time between maintenance infusions saves patients money and is far more convenient for them.