Ketamine is mainly used as a general or topical anesthetic in people and animals. Ketamine rehabilitation has also been demonstrated to relieve pain in people suffering from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). It has shown promise in the treatment of depression and addiction. It is also a popular recreational drug, known as ‘K’, ‘Special K’, ‘Pony Dust’, ‘Ket’, ‘Vitamin K’ and similar nicknames.
Is Ketamine Illegal?
Ketamine is classified as a Class C drug which carries relatively small penalties for personal possession, however there is a custodial sentence if you are convicted for distribution. Until recently, it came into the US through Mexico, but now there is a large amount coming from India.
Helpful Uses Of Ketamine
Typically it is used as a topical or general anesthetic. Being that it won’t suppress the breathing as much as other anesthetics, ketamine is useful in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Other uses include trauma victims trapped in rubble or automobile wreckage, emergency medicine, soldiers on the battlefield, and when it’s impossible to determine a patient’s fluid status when at an accident scene.
RSD\CRPS
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is known as a progressive chronic pain condition. It has dystrophic, motor, autonomic, and sensory components. Dystrophy is also referred to as muscle degeneration. The constant pain gets worse as time passes on. It is often accompanied by redness and swelling of the patients skin. It may start in a n arm or leg and spread to other areas of the body.
Treatment Techniques
There are 2 different treatment modalities for the use of ‘K’ in CRPS/RSD. The ‘awake’ method involves delivering low dose as slow infusion over a few days, either in an inpatient or in an outpatient facility. With the other technique, patients are placed into a medically-controlled coma and given a large, single dose of drug. This approach has not yet been approved for use in the United States but is widely used in Germany and is practiced in Mexico. There is also group drug counseling.
Ketamine Studies
Ketamine was at first shown to improve depressive symptoms in patients using it for RDS/CRPS. Since depression was not an outcome measure for that study, these results were never really documented. Later on, studies found that it was quite useful in depressed patients who had not responded to other forms of treatment.
Successful Uses
Doctors in Russia have reported promising results using ketamine to treat both heroin addiction and alcoholism. Sixty out of eighty-six alcoholic males remained abstinent for one year using a combination of ‘K’ and psychotherapy. Similar results were achieved with heroin addicts.
