Ketamine: Current applications in anesthesia, pain, and critical care

Summary & key facts

Ketamine was first sold in 1970 as a fast-acting general anesthetic for short operations. This review pulled together information from textbooks, journals, and electronic databases to describe how ketamine is used today. It says ketamine is no longer used only for anesthesia — doctors now use it in pain care and in critical care, and researchers have noticed possible extra effects like protecting brain cells, lowering inflammation, and even some anti-tumor activity. The review also highlights that using lower doses of ketamine has widened its medical uses. The paper summarizes existing studies rather than reporting new experiments.

Key facts:

• Ketamine first became available in 1970 as a rapidly acting general anesthetic meant for short procedures.
• The review found that ketamine is now used in a wide range of medical settings, especially for anesthesia, treating pain, and in critical care units.
• Researchers have reported possible additional benefits of ketamine, including protection of brain cells, anti-inflammatory effects, and some anti-tumor activity.
• Doctors and researchers have started using lower-dose ketamine schedules, and those lower doses have helped expand the drug's clinical uses beyond high-dose anesthesia.
• This article is a literature review: it gathers and summarizes evidence from textbooks, journals, and electronic databases rather than presenting new experimental results.

Abstract

Ketamine was introduced commercially in 1970 with the manufacturer's description as a "rapidly acting, nonbarbiturate general anesthetic" and a suggestion that it would be useful for short procedures. With the help of its old unique pharmacological properties and newly found beneficial clinical properties, ketamine has survived the strong winds of time, and it currently has a wide variety of clinical applications. It's newly found neuroprotective, antiinflammatory and antitumor effects, and the finding of the usefulness of low dose ketamine regimens have helped to widen the clinical application profile of ketamine. The present article attempts to review the current useful applications of ketamine in anesthesia, pain and critical care. It is based on scientific evidence gathered from textbooks, journals, and electronic databases.

Topics

Anesthesia and Neurotoxicity Research Anesthesia and Pain Management Anesthesia and Sedative Agents

Categories

Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine Health Sciences Medicine

Tags

Anesthesia Anesthetic Intensive care medicine Ketamine Medicine

Substances

Ketamine

Conditions & symptoms

Chronic Pain Chronic pain