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(RS)-ketamine

Ketamine is a cyclohexanone-derived general anesthetic and NMDA receptor antagonist with analgesic and hallucinogenic properties, used medically for anesthesia, depression, and pain management. Ketamine exists as its two enantiomers, S- (esketamine) and R- (arketamine), and has antidepressant action likely involving other mechanisms in addition to NMDA antagonism.

AI overview

(RS)-ketamine is a mixture of two mirror-image forms of the anesthetic drug ketamine, which works by blocking a type of brain receptor called NMDA and has pain-relieving and mood-lifting effects. It's used medically for anesthesia, treating depression, and managing pain, though scientists believe its antidepressant benefits involve more than just its main mechanism of action.

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Key facts

Drug.C: 13
Drug.Watchedfields: changed
Drug.verifiedrevid: 477168837
Drug.image: Ketamine2DCSD.svg
Drug.image_class: skin-invert-image
Drug.width: 150px
Drug.image2: S-ketamine-from-HCl-xtal-3D-balls.png
Drug.image_class2: bg-transparent
Drug.width2: 175px
Drug.alt2: (S)-Ketamine ball-and-stick model
Drug.tradename: Ketalar, others
Drug.DailyMedID: Ketamine
Drug.pregnancy_AU

Article

30 sections

Contents

Medical uses
Anesthesia
Pain
Depression
Seizures
Asthma
Contraindications
Adverse effects
Liver toxicity and urologic disease
Near-death experience
Addiction and tolerance
Brain damage
Interactions
Pharmacology
Pharmacodynamics
Mechanism of action
Molecular targets
Relationships between levels and effects
Pharmacokinetics
Chemistry
Structure
Detection
History
Society and culture
Legal status
Recreational use
Research
Veterinary uses
References
External links

At anesthetic doses, ketamine induces a state of dissociative anesthesia, a trance-like state providing pain relief, sedation, and amnesia. Its distinguishing features as an anesthetic are preserved breathing and airway reflexes, stimulated heart function with increased blood pressure, and moderate bronchodilation. As an anesthetic, it is used especially in trauma, emergency, and pediatric cases. At lower, sub-anesthetic doses, it is used as a treatment for pain and treatment-resistant depression.