Ketamine (liquid form)
General use: Medical anesthetic (human and veterinary medicine)
Description:
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that was developed in the 1960s and is still widely used in human and veterinary medicine today. In its pharmaceutical form, ketamine usually appears as a clear liquid and is administered by injection or infusion for surgical anesthesia or pain management. It is included on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines.
Medical uses:
- Anesthesia: Used in surgery due to its fast-acting and reliable dissociative properties.
- Pain relief: For the treatment of chronic pain conditions such as neuropathic pain and complex regional pain syndrome.
- Treatment of mental illness: More recently, low-dose intravenous ketamine has been used to treat major depression, PTSD and suicidal ideation, usually in supervised clinical settings.
Pharmacology:
Ketamine acts primarily as an NMDA receptor antagonist, disrupting communication between certain parts of the brain. This leads to a dissociative state in which the user may feel detached from their body or surroundings.
Effects:
- Sedation and pain relief
- Possible rapid relief of depressive symptoms (in therapeutic doses)
