Ketamine in an anesthetic developed in the early 1960’s. It is one of the most widely used drugs in modern medicine, and is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines. It has a variety of medical uses and is FDA-approved as an anesthetic.

Ketamine has a remarkably safe track record in surgical settings and is frequently used in pediatric surgery. It is also commonly used to treat the extreme physical pain of a condition called CRPS/RSD. The US military has used ketamine as a battlefield anesthetic since the Vietnam War. Ketamine is also used in veterinary medicine.

Ketamine has been found to be effective in treating many conditions as a surgical anesthetic, and has only been approved by the FDA to be marketed as such. Ketamine’s use outside of that as an anesthetic is considered “off label.” It is estimated that almost 1/4 of all prescription medications sold in the United States are prescribed off label. In the US, ketamine is listed as a DEA Schedule III drug.