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Ketamine-like effects after recreational use of methoxetamine.

Katharina E Hofer, Bettina Grager, Daniel Müller, Christine Rauber-Lüthy, Hugo Kupferschmidt, Katharina Rentsch, Alessandro Ceschi

Annals of emergency medicine July 1, 2012 DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2011.11.018 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Case report Peer reviewed
Sample size 1
Population A 19-year-old man
Intervention symptomatic treatment
Topics Esketamine Ketamine
Key findings Methoxetamine produces ketamine-like effects and complete recovery can be expected with supportive care.

Abstract

Methoxetamine, the N-ethyl derivative of ketamine, is a novel recreational drug that is not at present subject to restrictive regulations in most countries. To our knowledge, no case of methoxetamine abuse has been published to date in the scientific literature, and the only sources of information are illegal drug users' Web discussion forums. We report the first case of analytically confirmed intravenous methoxetamine abuse in a 19-year-old man. Observed signs and symptoms such as tachycardia, hypertension, confusion, agitation, stupor, ataxia, mydriasis, and nystagmus were consistent with ketamine-induced adverse effects and resolved with symptomatic treatment. According to this case report, user Web reports, and the chemical structure, methoxetamine produces ketamine-like effects. Complete recovery can be expected with supportive care.