Ketamine
KetalarPubChem CID 3821 · 3D model
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Blocks a channel nerve cells use to signal each other, producing a dreamlike, disconnected anesthesia — and at much lower doses, the fast-acting antidepressant effect behind the related drug Spravato.
How it works
Ketamine works differently from most anesthetics. Rather than calming the brain broadly the way propofol does, or numbing local nerves the way lidocaine does, both also on this site, ketamine plugs up a specific channel nerve cells use to communicate — producing a 'disconnected,' dreamlike anesthesia. At much lower doses than used for surgery, that same channel-blocking action appears to kick off a fast-acting antidepressant effect, which is the basis for the closely related drug esketamine (Spravato).
What it’s used for
Used in hospitals and clinics as a general anesthetic for surgery and other procedures. Its fast antidepressant effect at much smaller doses is the basis of the related nasal-spray drug Spravato, approved separately for depression that hasn't responded to other treatments.
- Mechanism
- NMDA receptor antagonist (dissociative anesthetic)
- Drug class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- CNS / Anesthesia