What is Ketamine?
ketamine hcl (Ketamine hydrochloride) is a nonbarbiturate anesthetic chemically designated (±)-2-(o-Chlorophenyl)-2-(methylamino) cyclohexanone hydrochloride. It is formulated as a slightly acid (pH 3.5 to 5.5) sterile solution for intravenous or intramuscular injection in concentrations containing the equivalent of 50 mg ketamine base per milliliter and contains not more than 0.1 mg/mL benzethonium chloride added as a preservative.
Ketamine, sold under the brand name Ketalar among others, is a medication mainly used for starting and maintaining anesthesia. It induces a trance-like state while providing pain relief, sedation, and memory loss. Other uses include for chronic pain and for sedation in intensive care. Heart function, breathing, and airway reflexes generally remain functional during its effects.[19] Effects typically begin within five minutes when given by injection with the main effects lasting up to 25 minutes.
Common side effects include psychological reactions as the medication wears off. These reactions may include agitation, confusion, or hallucinations. Elevated blood pressure and muscle tremors are relatively common, while low blood pressureand a decrease in breathing are less so.Spasms of the larynx may rarely occur. Ketamine has been classified as an NMDA receptor antagonist but its m echanisms are not well understood as of 2017.
Ketamine was discovered in 1962, first tested in humans in 1964, and was approved for use in the United States in 1970. Shortly after its US approval it was extensively used for surgical anesthesia in the Vietnam War, due to its safety. It is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system.
Uses as an anesthetic
- Anesthesia in children, as the sole anesthetic for minor procedures or as an induction agent followed by muscle relaxant and tracheal intubation
- Asthmatics or people with chronic obstructive airway disease
- As a sedative for physically painful procedures in emergency departments
- Emergency surgery in field conditions in war zones
- To supplement spinal or epidural anesthesia/analgesia using low doses
- Since it suppresses breathing much less than most other available anesthetics, ketamine is used in medicine as an anesthetic; however, due to the hallucinations it may cause, it is not typically used as a primary anesthetic, although it is the anesthetic of choice when reliable ventilation equipment is not available.
It may take you longer to recover from anesthesia with ketamine if you have recently used a barbiturate such as phenobarbital (Luminal) or secobarbital (Seconal), or a narcotic medication such as fentanyl (Actiq, Duragesic), hydrocodone (Lortab, Vicodin), oxycodone (OxyContin), propoxyphene (Darvocet, Darvon), and others.
Ketamine may be harmful to an unborn baby. Before you receive ketamine, tell your doctor if you are pregnant.
