London: Ketamine, the easily available drug normally used by doctors to induce general anaesthesia, if used uncontrolled and for fun can leave users unable to urinate, a new study has revealed.
In a new side-effect which is little known and is reported only in some patients, doctors said the drug can inflame the bladder and leave users unable to urinate.
Its effects can mimic that of cystitis, an agonising UTI, Daily Mail reported citing the study published in the American Journal of Medical Case Reports.
"An unnamed man told his GP that he was suffering from recurring Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) and heartburn", doctors at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire, wrote in the journal.
The patient confessed he had previously taken ketamine, but did not detail how long for.
The other known side effects of ketamine are instability of heart and blood vessel function, respiratory depression, liver injury, and cognitive or thinking deficits that is mostly reported in children.
Blood tests and ultrasound scans showed his renal function and appearance of his kidneys were 'normal'. But he was unable to fill his bladder, despite multiple attempts to drink fluid in the ultrasound department, the medics said.
A healthy adult's bladder can comfortably hold around 500ml — equivalent to just under a pint — of urine, the NHS says. The man however could hold just 45ml and complained of a 'severe urgency' to urinate, medics said.
The bladder also appeared abnormally shaped, with doctors noting it was three times thicker than usual.
After being referred to the urology team for further testing, a cystoscopy (a procedure to look inside the bladder using a thin camera) showed his bladder could hold just 100ml.
CT scans also revealed he was suffering from bilateral hydronephrosis — when the kidneys become swollen as a result of urine being unable to drain into the bladder.
"Our patient’s symptoms and investigation findings were typical for long-term ketamine use," doctors wrote.
They advised the unidentified man to stop using ketamine, the drug nowadays becoming popular, especially among students.
A follow-up ultrasound, at a later data, showed his kidneys were no longer swollen.
Medics noted that bladder inflammation is becoming more common 'as the availability and use of illicit drugs increases'.
The medics warned that the infection can cause 'irreversible' kidney damage if it remains untreated.
It is, therefore, important that patients are diagnosed early, stop using ketamine and any complications are treated, the team said.
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