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Ketamine has been used as a safe anesthetic for more than 50 years and also works well for pain relief. The active form is S(+)-ketamine and it is mainly broken down into an active metabolite called norketamine. Ketamine blocks NMDA receptors in the brain, which helps explain its special effects…
This 2014 review describes how ketamine, an anesthetic first sold in 1970, is used today in anesthesia, pain care, and critical care. The paper says ketamine has many effects: it can raise heart rate and blood pressure, relax airways, spare breathing, and block NMDA receptors. Newer research reported possible neuroprotective,…
This small randomized trial tested six IV ketamine infusions (0.5 mg/kg) given over 2 weeks versus midazolam (0.045 mg/kg) in 30 people with chronic PTSD. The ketamine group had larger drops in PTSD symptoms at 2 weeks, more people met the study’s response criteria, and ketamine was generally well tolerated.…
Twelve children (ages 8–21) with chronic pain received oral ketamine three times a day for 14 days at doses between 0.25 and 1.5 mg/kg per dose to test short-term safety and see if pain improved. Two children at the highest dose (1.5 mg/kg) had dose-limiting side effects (sedation and anorexia),…
Researchers reviewed about 300 studies and closely read 29 that tested how ketamine changes the brain at the molecular level in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They looked at short-term changes that happen while the drug is active and longer-term changes that can last after the drug is gone. Short-term changes…
Researchers gave a low dose of esketamine through an IV before general anesthesia to 200 adults having planned orthopedic surgery. They compared 100 people who got esketamine with 100 who got a saline placebo. The esketamine group showed smaller rises in inflammatory proteins after surgery, higher levels of antibodies, less…
