Ketamine

Abstract

In 1965 Chen et al. and McCarthy et al. first reported on a new drug Ketamine which had been developed at PARKE-DAVIS laboratories in the USA. Domino, Chodoff and Corssen introduced the drug into clinical practice in 1965 at Ann Arbor. The possibilities of Ketamine were further explored in a symposium in 1968. Commercial launching took place in the USA in 1970. Ketamine was developed from phencyclidine (now marketed as Sernyl for veterenary practice), cyclohexamine and two other experimental compounds, which had been under study since the late 50's. Ketamine is the first parenteral agent for clinical use with a potent analgesic as well as a hypnotic effect. In 1966 Corssen described its effects as "dissociative anaesthesia" characterised by intense analgesia, light sleep, amnesia and hypertonus, which in many ways resembled the effects of neuroleptic drugs.