Interest in anesthesia for the treatment of chronic pain and depression has grown in recent years. Although there have been no randomized trials of low-dose anesthesia in chronic pain patients, the evidence currently available indicates it is most effective in the treatment of allodynia, hyperalgesia, and hyperpathia. For depression, there has been one randomized, placebo-controlled, double blinded crossover study. In the depression trial, robust and rapid antidepressant effects were found to result from a single intravenous dose of anesthesia and last for at least a week.