Drug Interactions between esketamine and midazolam

MONITOR CLOSELY: Concomitant use of esketamine with central nervous system (CNS) depressants may increase sedation and impairment of attention, judgment, thinking, reaction speed, and psychomotor skills. In clinical trials, 49% to 61% of esketamine-treated patients developed sedation based on the Modified Observer's Alertness/Sedation scale (MOAA/s), and 0.3% of esketamine-treated patients experienced loss of consciousness (MOAA/s score of 0). In the MOAA/s scale, 5 means "responds readily to name spoken in normal tone" and 0 means "no response after painful trapezius squeeze," and any decrease in MOAA/s from pre-dosing of esketamine is considered to indicate presence of sedation. Dose-related increases in the incidence of sedation were also observed in a fixed-dose study. Additionally, cognitive performance decline was reported in a study in healthy volunteers who received a single intranasal dose of esketamine. Compared to placebo-treated subjects, esketamine-treated subjects required a greater effort to complete cognitive tests at 40 minutes post-dose, although results were comparable between the two groups at 2 hours post-dose. Drowsiness was comparable after 4 hours post-dose.

MANAGEMENT: Caution is advised and patients should be closely monitored during concomitant use of esketamine with CNS depressants or other drugs that can cause sedation or dizziness. Due to the risk of delayed or prolonged sedation and other adverse effects, patients should be monitored for at least 2 hours after esketamine administration, followed by an assessment to determine when the patient is considered clinically stable and ready to leave the healthcare setting. Patients should be instructed not to engage in potentially hazardous activities that require complete mental alertness and motor coordination, such as driving a motor vehicle or operating machinery, until the next day after a restful sleep.