Ketamine is an anesthetic used primarily in children and in the veterinary setting. The ketamine program has also shown promising results in patients with Reflex Sympathy Dystrophy (RSD), more recently known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a serious chronic pain syndrome. It is used to treat addiction and depression. Used also for recreational purposes, it is known socially as ‘Ket’, ‘K’, ‘Vitamin K’, ‘Pony Dust’, ‘Special K’ and other names.
Penalties For Possession
At the start of the 21st Century, more than 80 percent of arrests and drug seizures for ‘K’ were for products that were manufactured in Mexico. Today, most of the recreationally-used drug comes from India. It is a Class C Drug. This means that it carries the most lenient penalties for personal possession, although possession with intent to supply is still punishable by a prison sentence.
Helpful Uses
The principle use of the drug is as an anesthetic, either general or topical. It does not suppress breathing to the same extent as other anesthetic drugs so it is useful in people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and in children. In emergency medicine, it is used in patients on the battlefield, those suffering from trauma who are trapped in rubble or in automobile wreckage and in instances where it is impossible to accurately determine the patient’s fluid status such as at the scene of an accident.
RSDCRPS
RSD/CRPS is a debilitating, painful chronic condition. It has sensory, autonomic, motor and dystrophic components (‘dystrophy’ is a medical term referring to muscle tissue degeneration). The pain does not go away but continually increases. It is often accompanied by changes in skin color and swelling. It originates in a limb and can spread to other areas of the body.
Treatment Techniques
There are two recognized approaches to the use of ketamine in RSD/CRPS. One technique involves placing the subject into a medically-induced coma and giving them a large dose of the drug. This modality has not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration but is widely used in Germany and in parts of Mexico. The other approach is to give a low dose by slow infusion over a period of a few days. This can be done in a hospital or an outpatient clinic. There is also drug addiction counseling.
Studies
Ketamine was originally shown to improve depressive symptoms in patients using it for CRPS/RDS. Since depression was not an outcome measure for that study, these results were not formally documented. In later studies, it was found very useful in depressed patients who had been refractory to other forms of treatment.
Successful Uses
Physicians in Russia have successfully used ketamine for the treatment of alcoholism and heroin addiction. Seventy per cent of male adult alcoholics stayed abstinent for one year using a combination of psychotherapy and Special K. A similar outcome was reported in treating people who were addicted to heroin.
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