Complications of Ketamine Abuse

​​BY STUART ETENGOFF, DO, & ABDULLAH ​BOKHARI​, AB, DOA 20-year-old Caucasian man presented via EMS with a chief complaint of withdrawal from ketamine and secondary complaints of abdominal pain, blood in his urine, and painful urination with urgency for two days.He said he had been using ketamine intravenously daily for the past five days, up to 35 grams over the past week. His last use was 24 hours prior to presentation to the ED. He stated that he had been using ketamine regularly for four years and that he has used it intravenously, orally, and intranasally.He reported a history of ADHD and a family history of bipolar disorder and substance abuse. His mother had died two years earlier from an opiate overdose. He said he used ketamine daily, and had also used marijuana, cocaine, opiates, nitrous oxide, heroin, mushroom, tobacco, and occasionally alcohol.The patient described his abdominal pain as sharp and crampy, radiating from the bladder upward with associated nausea for two days. He denied flank pain, recent trauma, any history of previous abdominal pain or urinary tract infection, fever, chills, discharge, diarrhea, constipation, chest pain, shortness of breath, and blood in stool. He also had no previous history of hematuria, kidney stones, or sexually transmitted diseases.He appeared to be in mild to moderate discomfort and anxious, and was alert and oriented to person, place, and time. His blood pressure was 143/95 mm Hg, pulse 111 bpm, respiratory ...
Source: The Case Files - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: research