Ketamine as a Unique Anesthetic Drug.
Ketamine is a unique anesthetic drug that provides analgesia, hypnosis, and amnesia with minimal respiratory and cardiovascular depression. Ketamine produces a unique cataleptic trance known as disassociative anesthesia. Dissociative anesthesia is a unique anesthesia characterized by analgesia and amnesia with minimal effect on respiratory function. The patient does not appear to be anesthesized and can swallow and open eyes but does not process information. Ketamine was first tested in humans at the Parke Davis Research Unit of Jackson Prison in Michigan. The first human received the drug on August 3, 1964. By 1970, it was approved as an anesthetic agent by the US FDA. Advantages and Precautions Ketamine induces significant increases in HR, mean arterial pressure, and plasma epinephrine levels. This sympathetic nervous system stimulation is centrally mediated. It can be harmful in patients with stenotic heart le...