The diverse effects of ketamine, jack-of-all-trades: a narrative review.
British journal of anaesthesia March 1, 2025 Nicholas D Richards, Simon J Howell, Mark C Bellamy et al. 20 citations
Ketamine, discovered in 1962, acts as an NMDA receptor antagonist and provides dose-dependent anaesthetic, sedative, and analgesic effects. It also influences other cellular targets, yielding potential benefits including cardiovascular stability during sedation, analgesia for acute and chronic pain, bronchodilation in severe refractory asthma, anti-inflammatory properties especially in sepsis, tumour inhibition, and antidepressant effects that can reverse suicidal ideation. Reluctance to use ketamine clinically stems from stigma around its side-effects and abuse potential. This review surveys ketamine's diverse therapeutic potentials across fields and identifies areas for future research, such as perioperative medicine, pain management, ICU sedation, and tumour suppression during cancer surgery.