Application of Ketamine in Current Practice of Anesthesiology

Abstract

Ketamine was discovered in 1964 by merging a ketone with an amine. Patients described feeling disconnected like they were floating in outer. Thus, it was characterized as a dissociative anesthetic. It is a unique drug that expresses hypnotic, analgesic, and amnesic effects. No other drug used in clinical practice produces these three important effects at the same time. Its newly found neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, antitumor effects and low dose applications have helped to widen the clinical profile of ketamine. Ketamine as an analgesic adjunct in chronic pain patients is currently being researched. Combined use of ketamine and an opiate analgesic has been found to provide good perioperative pain control with reduction in symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, sedation, and respiratory insufficiency.