A hospital in the UK has opened a clinic to treat younger patients for problems associated with ketamine use, and their youngest patient was just 12 years old.
Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool opened the specialist clinic recently, it's the first of its kind in the UK, and it was established in response to a growing number of younger people being diagnosed with ketamine-induced uropathy.
The condition, also known as 'ketamine bladder', comes from chronic use with the drug and affects a person's urinary tract in painful ways.
Harriet Corbett, consultant paediatric urologist at Alder Hey, said: "Ketamine bladder syndrome is a very serious problem associated with chronic ketamine use. It can lead to significant pain and long-term health consequences.
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"Over the past few years, we have seen an escalating number of children and young people referred to Alder Hey with bladder symptoms.
"The symptoms can affect them for their whole life as ketamine use can result in damage to the bladder wall, including ulceration and fibrosis. The effects can be irreversible and can result in chronic bladder pain, incontinence, and in worst case scenarios, might necessitate removal of the bladder or kidney dialysis.
"This is entirely preventable, and we want to support children and young people to understand the dangers of this drug and prevent any further damage."
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, she said the youngest patient they'd had referred to them was 12, and they'd seen 'an increasing number under the age of 16' suffering from the effects of ketamine.
A study from 2023 of secondary school children found that around 11 percent of 15-year-olds in England had been offered ketamine at some point in their lives.
It also warned that ketamine use in schoolchildren had more than doubled in the 10 years leading up to 2023, with a leap from 0.4 percent of schoolchildren taking the drug in 2013 rising to 0.9 percent in 2023.
Long term use of ketamine can cause damage to a person's internal organs, including their liver, kidneys and bladder, and overdosing on it can be fatal.
Professor Rachel Isba said that Alder Hey would be there for young people to help them with the painful effects of ketamine use and help them get off the dangerous drug.
She said: "Treatment is certainly not a quick fix and ketamine can affect these young people’s mental health as well as physical health. My role in the clinic will be looking at ways to work with the young person to help them stop using ketamine altogether.
"The clinic will offer non-judgemental support and referral into community drug services where appropriate.
"We will provide a safe space for them to talk and work together to develop a plan."
Joe Harker