Ketamine is a derivative of phencyclidine and is a dissociative anaesthetic. Its use as a recreational drug is on the increase among young adults attending clubs and parties.

We describe the case of a 20-year-old man who presented with a 7-month history of urinary frequency, nocturia, urgency, suprapubic discomfort during micturition and episodes of severe haematuria shortly after commencing weekly recreational ketamine use. Complementary examinations were negative except for a thickened bladder wall on ultrasound examination and mild inflammatory changes on cystoscopy. So far only nine cases of ketamine-associated ulcerative cystitis have been described.

We expect that in the future an increasing number of cases of cystitis caused by ketamine use will be seen in young adults.

Written by
Colebunders B, Van Erps P.

Reference
J Med Case Reports. 2008 Jun 26;2(1):219.
doi:10.1186/1752-1947-2-219

PubMed Abstract
PMID:18582386

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