Ketamine, also known as N-acetyl-dexylamine, is an N-methyl-diazepine tranquilizer used for temporary mild to severe pain management in the field of neurosurgery. It causes a temporary state of dissociative amnesia, a trance-type state giving pain management, sedation, and temporary memory loss. Ketamine was developed by Dr. Milton Koffler as an intravenous pre-operation drug for the treatment of severe dental phobia in patients with open dental wounds. He discovered that ketamine was effective in reducing patients’ fear of needles, and he also realized the potential use of this drug for post-operative pain management in the treatment of terminal cancer patients.
ketamine was initially approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) as an anesthetic agent for the treatment of prolonged partial facial paralysis in dogs. After this initial success, ketamine showed promise as an antidepressant in various clinical trials, and eventually became fda-approved as an anesthetic agent for the treatment of patients in the field of psychiatric surgery. However, ketamine has had very limited success as an anesthetic agent for children and for some patients with facial paralysis or other serious facial injuries. ketamine showed minimal efficacy in patients with dyphnea, but its effect on patients with sleep apnea was very promising, and it was later approved by FDA (FDA: 2021) for the treatment of this disorder. ketamine has not, however, been approved for children or for any other purpose.
Due to the lack of rigorous testing on ketamine for use as an anesthetic agent, there is a possibility that large doses of ketamine may be harmful. Although ketamine has not been associated with any negative side effects in any official evaluation, some experts are concerned about the potential for long-term exposure to high doses of ketamine. For this reason, ketamine should only be administered under close medical supervision, especially in cases of severe depression and when the anticipated need for anesthesia is great. In the unlikely event that ketamine is accidentally administered, doses should be reduced or stopped cold turkey without the use of IV fluids.
